Australia Demote David Warner To No 3 On His Comeback

The way David Warner batted in this year’s Indian Premier League, it would have made the Australian team-management extremely happy.  Warner, who made a comeback to high-profile cricket through IPL after the one-year ban, hit the ground running. In just 12 outings, he smashed eight fifties and one century.The Australia star finished the season as the top run-scorer, having scored a staggering 692 runs from 12 matches at an average of 69.20. Warner’s last six scores in the season read 70, 51, 50, 67, 57, 37 and 81.

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But even that form has not guaranteed an opening slot for Warner in the Australian team. Despite being one of their best batsmen in the last one decade and also one of the best openers in the world, Warner returned to the Australian team to bat at the third position in the batting oder.  Skipper Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja continued to open the innings as Australia took on New Zealand in a warm-up game in Brisbane on Monday.

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The turn of events in Brisbane has more or less made it clear that Australia would prioritise current form rather than reputation.  Finch and Khawaja were in superb form during the series against India and Pakistan earlier this year. They put together seven opening stands over 50 in the ten matches against India and Pakistan, including partnerships of 193, 209 and 134.

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But while Warner’s demotion will surprise many, one cannot say the Australian team-management took the decision in a haste. Even before the start of the warm-up game, Australia coach Justin Langer had made it more or less clear that Khawaja and Finch would open the innings.

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“It’s awesome to have options,” Langer said. “The way Usman and Finchy have batted together in the Test matches, they played together in the UAE, plus what they did in the last two one-day series is brilliant. Dave Warner’s a world-class opening batsman, Shaun Marsh’s been brilliant at No. 3, good at No. 4, Steve Smith can probably bat where he likes or wherever he is in the side, so it’s really exciting to have those five hundred-makers at our disposal really.”

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With Warner batting at number three, former captain Steve Smith would bat at number four.