Taylor wants to see Warner in World Test Championship final

Melbourne (Best Hindu News): Former Australian cricketer and captain Mark Taylor believes that opener David Warner should be a part of the Kangaroo team playing the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India.

India and Australia will lock horns in the WTC final on June 7, immediately followed by Australia taking on England in a four-Test Ashes series. Warner may be going through a prolonged period of poor form but according to Taylor the Australia team management would prefer to go with him for the WTC final and the opening Ashes.

“If I’m reading things correctly, it looks like they will stick with David for the World Test Championship at The Oval,” Taylor told Australian news agency AAP. And if Australia is thinking that way about the World Test Championship, then yes, they have to start with that for the Ashes.”

There will also be pressure on Warner to score runs, especially in England. The double century against South Africa in Melbourne last December is Warner’s only hundred in 32 innings. In the year 2019, Warner averaged 9.50 on the Ashes tour of England.

Taylor said, “It will be very difficult to open the batting with Usman Khawaja and Warner (in the WTC final) and then a week later (in the Ashes) for the first Test at Edgbaston. Whoever Australia chooses to open the batting for the World Test Championship, that pair should play the first three Tests.”

It may be noted that the Australian selectors had earlier indicated that they would consider re-evaluating the squad after the second Ashes Test at Lord’s. Taylor said that the selectors should choose Cameron Bancroft or Matt Renshaw as the opener instead of Marcus Harris in place of Warner.

Bancroft has not played a Test match since the 2019 Ashes, although he was the highest run-scorer in Australia’s domestic Test event, the Sheffield Shield, with 945 runs at an average of 59.06.

Taylor said, “I am an old-fashioned man. I always like to see right and left handed batsmen together. So I would love to give Cameron Bancroft another chance at the top of the order. I see Renshaw scoring runs in New Zealand (for Australia A) but Bancroft scoring runs in Australian domestic cricket.

He said, “One thing I like about Bancroft, which I also like about Renshaw, is his fielding. We need to find two openers in the next one or two years. Marcus Harris’ fielding has always worried me. Fielding is going to be crucial in the times to come. I think it will go against someone like Marcus Harris, whose fielding is not good.