As the focus shifts to the final match of the Border-Gavaskar Test series against India, Australia continue to ponder over their opening pair. Head coach Justin Langer picked Marcus Harris as the reserved opener if Will Pucovski fails to recover well in time to be picked for the contest.
Meanwhile, the hosts have struggled with their opening pair in the ongoing series. Regular openers David Warner and Will Pucovski missed the first two encounters owing to injuries. Australia fielded Joe Burns and makeshift opener Matthew Wade at the top but they failed to make an impact.
Marcus Harris will open if Pucovski fails to recover – Justin Langer
Burns looked completely out of form before he was left out of the squad for the last two matches while Wade failed to convert the starts. As a result, the Aussies were forced to play David Warner in Sydney, who looked in discomfort while runnings. He partnered with youngster Will Pucovski, who made his debut in the third Test.
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However, much to his dismay, Pucovski suffered the injury during the Sydney Test while diving to save a ball in the field. He was left with a heavy strap on his shoulder during the last day’s play. With only two days to go for the final contest in Brisbane, Australia continue to race against time to have Will Pucovski fit.
Addressing the press conference, Justin Langer stated that they will wait for Pucovski to recover. If he failed to achieve full fitness, Marcus Harris will take his place at the top-order.
“Will had a sore shoulder before he fell, he was actually going to have a scan after that day’s play anyway, just to see what was happening,” Justin Langer said at a virtual press conference.
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“We will see how he pulls up today, we are really hopeful that he will get up and if he doesn’t, then the obvious thing would be Marcus Harris would come in as an opener,” he added.
Meanwhile, Will Pucovski made an impressive start to his Test career scoring a half-century. On the other hand, Marcus Harris has so far played nine Test matches for Australia scoring 385 runs, including two fifties, with the highest score of 79.
The series is currently tied at 1-1 and the last match of the tour will commence on January 15(Friday) at the Gabba.
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