David Warner ruled out of the first Test against India

Australia will be without their star opener David Warner for the first Test of the upcoming four-match series against India, Cricket Australia confirmed on Wednesday. The left-handed batsman will miss the action because of the injury he had sustained during the second ODI between the two teams in Sydney last month.

Warner injured his adductor muscle while fielding and had to walk off the field. Later, he was ruled out of the remainder of the white-ball games against the Men in Blue. In his absence, Australia lost three of four games (1 ODI, three T20Is) as India clinched the T20I series after losing the ODIs. Warner had played a big role in the ODI series triumph by scoring fifties in the first two games before being sidelined.

Warner will now remain in Sydney for specialized treatments as the rest of the squad travels to Adelaide on Wednesday. Before the first Test, both the teams will also take part in a three-day tour game, starting on December 11. Talking about his injury, Warner said he has made great progress but will need ‘another 10 days’ to reach the best level.

“I feel I have made great progress in a short amount of time and it’s best for me to stay here in Sydney to continue working on getting back to full fitness,” Warner said as quoted by Cricbuzz.

“The injury feels a lot better, but I need to be able to satisfy in my own mind and to my team-mates that it is 100 per cent ready for Test match conditions. That includes running between the wickets and being agile in the field. Right now I feel I am short of being able to play at peak fitness and another 10 days will make a difference,” he added.

‘We hope to have David Warner in Melbourne’: Justin Langer

Australia head coach Justin Langer is hopeful of having a fully-fit David Warner for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. The former Australia Test opener said Warner’s supreme fitness levels gave the side great confidence he would be fit in time for the second Test of the series.

“If there is one guy you know will go well above and beyond that’s Dave,” Langer said. “He has done an incredible job to get to where he is today and we hope to have a fully fit David Warner at his absolute best in Melbourne.”

Australia now have only one specialist opener in their squad – Joe Burns -who is fit. The other opener Will Pucovski is also sidelined after being hit on the head on day three of the tour game against India A. The knock had left him displaying mild concussion symptoms. Pucovski is out of the second tour game but is likely to play the first Test, starting on December 17.