Australia vs India: Tim Paine names the likely openers for the first Test

Who will open among Finch, Khawaja and Harris?

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Usman Khawaja
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Australia Captain Tim Paine  (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Though the three-match T20I series between Australia and India is currently underway, all the eyes are on the upcoming Tests. The hosts announced the 14-man squad for the first couple of matches and made as many as three changes to the team which travelled to the UAE recently. They received a huge boost with the in-form Usman Khawaja fit again. However, the skipper Tim Paine has already revealed that the Marcus Harris and Aaron Finch are most likely to open the innings for them.

Khawaja was the one who batted in the top-order alongside Finch in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. He did exceptionally well while doing that and also went on to save the game for his side in the series opener by batting close to eight hours on the fourth and fifth day pitch. It will be interesting to see where he bats during the Test series against India as the first match begins on December 6 in Adelaide.

Top six not confirmed

Tim Paine, while speaking to the reporters, cleared that Finch and Harris will most probably step out on the field to open the innings for Australia in Adelaide. However, he admitted that the top six of the line-up is yet not confirmed and added that the conditions and the performances in the next Sheffield Shield round will play a role.

“I think if Finchy plays for us … I dare say it is going to be at the top of the order. If they’re the two we go with, I’m totally comfortable with that. We’ve got Mitch Marsh in the side at six at the moment. If conditions dictate and you only need four bowlers, you could play all of the batsmen and shuffle the order around. It’s important we’ve got lots of options. Clearly this next Shield round is really important for a number of guys,” Paine was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.

The 33-year-old, however, was excited to see Harris play at the top of the order during the upcoming Shield round in the game between Tasmania and Victoria. “I’ve always thought Marcus Harris was an excellent player, even when he was playing for WA. I think his defence has improved a lot and he’s had that really good attacking game and can score very quickly. So I think his game is pretty well suited to Test cricket,” the Aussie skipper added.

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