New Delhi: Australia are struggling to replace the retired explosive opener David Warner, which has been highlighted in their 295-run loss to India in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar series, Ian Chappell has pointed out.
Australian batters struggled en masse against the potent Indian bowling attack led by Jasprit Bumrah in their defeat that was the biggest margin by runs against the visitors.
The home team handed debut to Nathan McSweeney, who was tried out as opener to fill up the position left by Warner. But McSweeney flopped in both innings (eight and zero) at Perth, compounding Australia’s woes.
Warner retired after the T20 World Cup in June, bringing an end to a stellar Test career in whih he scored 8786 runs from 112 matches at an average of 44.06, including 26 hundreds.
The aggressive left hander provided racy starts to their innings, setting the platform for other top-order batters including Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith to bat around him.
But in his absence, Australia don’t have a similar explosive batter at the top of the innings, who could tear the opposition bowling apart.
“And I’m still waiting for an Australian player to utter the words ‘Gee we really miss the talent of the adventurous David Warner. Warner’s belligerence and ability to score quickly made life a lot simpler for the rest of Australia’s top order.
“His dominating presence and imprint on the Australian batting order is being sorely missed,” Ian Chappell wrote in a column for ESPNcricinfo.
‘Paucity of batting talent’
After Warner’s departure, Smith had moved up to take his place but not with enough success and has returned to his usual No.4 position in the ongoing India series. But he and No.3 Labuschagne couldn’t get going at Perth, heaping more pressure on them.
“Where Warner used to get the scoring rate moving quickly, players like Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja are now expected to play a role that is not their natural game,” he added.
Chappell said that if the hosts go down to India in the second Test at Adelaide, which is a day-night affair to be played with a pink ball, then their batting line-up would have to be looked at.
“If Australia do lose the second Test, the batting will come under the microscope. That’s when the paucity of potential batting talent in Australia will cause some selection headaches,” Chappell wrote.
David Warner’s dominating presence and imprint on the Australian batting order is being sorely missed, said Ian Chappell Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
