Former Australia head coach Darren Lehmann believes batsman David Warner should be a member of the Ashes squad despite poor form in Tests, and says the opener could make an impact if pushed down the order. Is.
Australia will travel to England in June for the Ashes, with questions hanging over whether the 36-year-old left-hander will be part of the squad.
Warner’s forgettable performances during the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series in India and his modest run in 25 Test innings in England has led former Australia captain Ricky Ponting to say that Warner missed his best chance to hang Is. I made a comeback after the Sydney Test against South Africa in January this year.
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Warner made 1 and 10 in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar series in Nagpur and had another forgettable innings in the Second Test in New Delhi, where he made 15 in the first innings. Then he went back home due to an elbow injury.
Warner never passed the 100 mark in 25 Test innings in England and scored a half-century just once in his last 15 innings in the five-day format.
Lehmann, who stepped down as Australia head coach after the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018 and oversaw Warner for nearly half a decade of his career, said Cricket Australia (CA) can give a fitting send-off to this legendary player by playing in the lower order in the Ashes.
David Warner, if he is in form, has something to add. “For me the issue would be that he has been there (England) three times and not scored a hundred,” Lehmann told SEN Radio on Wednesday.
“I thought in the last Ashes series he should bat lower (in the order) and bat five or six, something different, because he can really expose their bowling down the order.”
Lehmann said that the team management should be more flexible and the batting positions of Warner and Travis Head should be changed.
“We keep him as an opener but David Warner, if he is not succeeding at the top, he can bat down the order, you can swap Warner and (Travis) Head. ‘ Sometimes you have to think outside the box to see who is going to be successful.”
Head came in as an opener for Warner in the second innings of the Test in New Delhi and made a fine 43, although Australia lost by six wickets at the Ferozeshah Kotla.
Elaborating on Warner’s struggles against experienced England seamers Stuart Broad and James Anderson, Lehmann said the selectors will take a call on his inclusion for the Ashes, but his feeling is that the left-hander will be in the team. Will be in
“(Stuart) Broad and (James) Anderson are going to be tough and Warner is struggling with that (seam) in England, so whether they get him there or not will be the decision of the selectors.
“I think they will have him in the squad (for the Ashes), but will they play him? I’m not so sure. But if you get him in the team you can play with him, or don’t get him at all,” Lehmann said.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)