Australia missing ‘adventurous’ David Warner? Ian Chappell points batting struggles

Former Australian captain Ian Chappell pointed out Australia’s recent struggles with the bat in red ball cricket. He highlighted the ‘paucity’ of batting talent in Australia’s cricketing set-up. Chappell pointed out Australia missing out on a dynamic player like David Warner in their lineup. Warner announced his retirement from all formats of the game for Australia earlier this year. The southpaw, who had been a match-winner for Australia while opening in Tests, left a huge gap to fill in for the team.

“And I’m still waiting for an Australian player to utter the words ‘Gee we really miss the talent of the adventurous David Warner.” Warner’s belligerence and ability to score quickly made life a lot simpler for the rest of Australia’s top order. His dominating presence and imprint on the Australian batting order is being sorely missed,” Ian Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.

Australia missing Warner?

Chappel further said that Australia needed a player like Warner who can take the pressure off his teammates by scoring at quicker rates.

“Where Warner used to get the scoring rate moving quickly, players like Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja are now expected to play a role that is not their natural game,” he added.

A 25-year-old Nathan McSweeney took over Warner’s position to open for Australia in Tests. However, he looked clueless against Jasprit Bumrah’s swing and seam. The debutant managed only to score just 8 runs and a duck in two innings of the 1st Test . Earlier, Steve Smith was also moved up the order in Warner’s place, but couldn’t find success.

Australia’s batting under scanner

Chappell highlighted that Australia’s batting would come under the scanner if they lost the 2nd Test vs India in Adelaide.
“If Australia do lose the second Test, the batting will come under the microscope. That’s when the paucity of potential batting talent in Australia will cause some selection headaches,” he added.

Australia suffered a 295-run loss in 1st Test vs India as they were bundled out for 104 and 238 runs in 1st and 2nd innings respectively in Perth.