Australian captain Tim Paine has backed experienced but out of form Joe Burns over young and scintillating Will Pucovski to open with David Warner in the Test series against India.
"Burnsy had a really good summer for us last year with David Warner, their partnership and relationship is a really important one for our team. They got us off to a number of good starts last year,” Paine was quoted as saying to Cricket Australia.
The 35-year-old further agreed that Burns is not in a kind of form that he and the Australian team would like him to be in, but he believes that there major chances of him making a strong comeback.
"Burnsy hasn't been in the form that he would like or scored the runs he would like. But we know he does a good job. He averages close to 40 in Test cricket for Australia, which is a great effort opening the batting and I expect him to start this summer," Paine said.
Although former captains such as Michael Clarke, Mark Taylor, and Kim Hughes have backed Pucovski, who has hit two consecutive double hundreds in three innings to make his debut against India, team selector and coach Justin Langer have gone with Burns as their first choice.
However, things are likely to get clear when both Burns and Pucovski open together for Australia A in a three-day game that begins on December 6.
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