Determined Will Pucovski Distances Himself From Social Media To Keep Hype At Bay Ahead Of India Series

Few Australian young cricketers have enjoyed the hype that the 22-year-old Will Pucovski is enjoying in recent times.

The prodigious talent has been hailed in the Aussie cricketing circles as the next big thing but Will Pucovski is determined at keeping the hype at bay and just focus on getting better.

Pucovski recently earned a maiden call-up to the Australian squad for the upcoming four-match Test series against India after he smashed 495 runs [two double-hundreds] in two innings while batting for Victoria in Sheffield Shield.

Pucovski will get a chance to leapfrog Joe Burns as Australia’s first-choice opener in the tour-games for Australia A against the Indians prior to the four-match rubber. The practice games have been effectively billed as the shoot-out for the opening spot between the incumbent Joe Burns and Will Pucovski and given the hype created around him by the media, the 22-year-old, who has suffered from mental health issues in the past, has switched off his social media accounts to focus on the job ahead.

“I think it’s a bit of a media buildup to be honest, the big bat-off thing. I think all I can really control is how I go about it in my preparation and then obviously in the game so I feel like my batting’s in a really good place,” Will Pucovski told the reporters as quoted by Reuters.

“I’m off a lot of social media, so that makes it a lot easier. You can’t get tagged on Twitter and stuff if you don’t have the app, so that’s been a pretty easy one for me.” he added.

Will Will Pucovski open the innings with David Warner in the Test series against India?

Will Pucovski has been hailed as Australia’s next big batting superstar after Ricky Ponting and Steven Smith and given his current form and the lack of runs by Joe Burns for Queensland, former cricketers like Greg Chappell have been calling for the youngster to be included in the playing XI.

”It would be ridiculous to say he’s not ready. What the hell is he going to prove by playing more Shield cricket?” Greg Chappell had told Channel Nine.

But, if head coach Justin Langer’s statement is to be believed, Australia might just continue with the incumbent pair of David Warner and Joe Burns for at least the start of the Test series. A lot will of course depend on how Pucovski and Burns will fare in the practice games ahead of the four-match rubber.

“He’s been amazing, hasn’t he? That said … we loved the combination of Joe Burns and David Warner. At this point, I’d say that will remain the same.” Justin Langer said.

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