Tim Paine
Tim Paine. (Credits: Twitter)

Will Pucovski or Joe Burns – Who should be the preferred opener alongside David Warner for the upcoming Test series against India? This is the question that is currently doing the rounds in the Australian cricketing fraternity ahead of the much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar series.

Several former Australia cricketers like Mark Taylor, Ian Chappell, Michael Clarke have already weighed in on the discussion and have said that they would like to see highly-rated Pucovski opening against India. Well, Australia captain Tim Paine has now revealed his pick too.

David Warner, Joe Burns
David Warner, Joe Burns (Credits: Twitter)

The wicketkeeper-batsman made it clear that he is in support of Burns opening the innings, saying that the opener should not be dropped for the first Test against India in Adelaide.

“Burnsy [Joe Burns] 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,” Tim Paine said.

“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,” added Tim Paine.

Tim Paine
Tim Paine. (Credits – Getty)

Uncapped Pucovski became a strong contender for the opener’s slot after impressing in domestic circuit. He was included in Australia A as well as the Test squads after scoring consecutive double hundreds in the ongoing Sheffield Shield tournament.

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On the other hand, Burns has been struggling to deliver. He has scored only 57 runs in five knocks with only one score above 20. But his performance in the last summer has made him the favourite to open the innings at least in the first Test against India.

Burns was Australia’s third highest run-scorer, scoring 256 runs in five matches at an average of 32. Australia had won all of those five games to move to the top of the Test rankings.

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