David Warner Absence Is A Loss for Australia: Legendary Australian batsman Matthew Hayden reckons David Warner is virtually irreplaceable, and his absence will be an “enormous loss” for Pat Cummins’ team in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy later this year.
India and Australia will resume their rivalry in Test cricket this year when the Aussies host Rohit Sharma’s team for a five-match Test series. This will be the first time since 1992 that these two teams compete against each other in a five-Test series.
This will also be the first time since the 2018/19 series, when Warner was banned for his involvement in the sandpaper-gate scandal, that Australia will face India without their aggressive left-handed opener.
The David Warner Absence Is A Loss for Australia: Hayden
Hayden touched upon Warner’s attacking approach at the top that sets the tone for the rest of the batters.
Hayden said, “For the first time, it doesn’t feel as secure. David Warner gave great service to Australian cricket. He was extremely competitive and wonderfully dynamic. He really took that legacy that I’d created through the 2000s. His strike rates in excess of 80 (70.19) gave great momentum to the top order, which, otherwise, is quite conservative. So I think he’s an enormous loss in terms of how do you replace them.”
I think it’s crazy: Matthew Hayden on Steve Smith’s change in batting position
While Australia playing XI is settled and the first-choice XI players are undebatable, the debate around Steve Smith’s best position rages on.
One of the greatest middle-order batters, Smith left his successful number four position and decided to open after David Warner’s retirement earlier this year. But he’s not been able to replicate his success at number four as an opener. In eight innings, he’s scored 171 runs at an average of only 28 with one half-century and no century.
Hayden doesn’t agree with his position change for Smith, who averaged 61 at number four.
“The rationale that George Bailey [the chief selector] gave was correct. He thought it was about choosing his best top six players, batsmen. Now, you can’t argue with that. Steve Smith averages 65 (56.97) and has 30 (32) Test match hundreds. You know the role of an opening batsman compared to that of a middle-order batsman is very different.
“It didn’t take long to discover that in New Zealand earlier in the year, when Smith as an opener was not exactly a success. I said at the time that I didn’t like the change. I think it’s crazy to think that you have the world’s best-in-class batter in a certain position. And then you change to a completely different position.”
The first Test of the series will get underway on November 22 in Perth, and the series will conclude in Sydney on January 7.
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