Australia vs India: Shane Warne picks Usman Khawaja's replacement for the Test series

Former Australian spin-wizard Shane Warne picked up a probable XI for Australia to face the Indian team in the first test starting from 6th December after Usman Khawaja has all but ruled out of the series. The Test series will follow the T20Is which will be commencing from November 21.

Australia suffered a confidence-shattering defeat against Pakistan in the second Test in Abu Dhabi after they marginally evaded defeat in the series opener, thanks to Khawaja’s heroics.

With a humongous target of 538 runs to be chased won, Australia were hoping for a similar heroics from the left-handed opener in order to bail the visitors out of trouble.  However, Khawaja, owing to his injury, couldn’t come out to bat in the 2nd innings and his participation in India series is also in doubt. He has sustained a meniscal tear and will have to undergo surgery now.

Warne unsure about the middle-order

Shane Warne has put forth eight names, with him yet to contemplate who should take up the No. 3, 4 and 5 slots. The leg-spinner still has a belief that this eleven can spark a resurgence after a tough start to their new era since the ball-tampering saga earlier in March. Since Khawaja’s participation remains under the cloud, Shane Warne has nominated D’arcy Short to open the innings along with Aaron Finch.

Warne wrote on Twitter in the context of picking Short “Remember what people said about Warner before he played his 1st test !.” Warne also replaced Peter Siddle by including an all-rounder in Marcus Stoinis, another player yet to play his first test for the nation.

The 49-year-old has left out the trio of Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, and Travis Head. The Marsh brothers had a horror series with neither of them scoring at least 20 runs in any of their innings in the UAE. India, who are yet to taste a series victory down under in whites, lock horns against Australia in the first Test starting on 6th December in Adelaide.

Here’s his tweet:

After a few days of deliberation, I’ve come up with these certainties for the 1st test back in Aust

1 Finch
2 Short
3
4
5
6 Paine
7 Stoinis
8 Cummins
9 Starc
10 Lyon
11 Hazlewood

Re Short – Remember what people said about Warner before he played his 1st test !

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) October 19, 2018

~Written by Aayushmaan Vishwanathan