Australia v India: Will Pucovski v Joe Burns selection battle now a live TV event

One has presented a compelling case through weight of runs, the other is the incumbent with some high-powered backing - who will the Aussies turn to in Adelaide next month?

Joe Burns v Will Pucovski will now be a television event, with fans able to watch the heavyweight showdown for the vacancy at the top of the Australian batting order.

The Aussie camp has played down talk that the pair are being pitched into a “bat off” when Australia A faces India A in a fortnight’s time, but the mercury has risen now Fox Cricket will broadcast the first tour match live from Drummoyne Oval, adding to the game’s interest.

Cricket Australia on Friday sold out five of the six white ball matches against India starting next week within hours, further highlighting the peaking interest in Australia taking on Virat Kohli’s sub-continental kings this summer.

The ONLY place to watch every single match of India’s Tour of Australia is on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your free trial now & start streaming instantly >

Brendon Julian and Kerry O’Keeffe will call the three-day Australia A match starting on December 6, which will feature openers Burns and Pucovski vying for the chance to partner David Warner for the blockbuster first Test – which at this stage, is still in Adelaide.

Even if the match is not the be all and end all for their Test hopes, it could still yet be a factor as debate continues to rage over the merits of incumbency versus breathtaking form.

Pucovski has more of a buzz about him than perhaps any batsman to have come through the ranks in Australian cricket over the past decade.

Aussie coach Justin Langer says he has a leaning towards honouring the performances of Burns in helping Australia get to No.1 in the world, but recognises leaving Pucovski out would be a massive call given he’s coming off back-to-back double centuries and has been touted as a generational star.

It would be harsh to make a call based on one Australia A match, but a big score from Burns or Pucovski would be a powerful final statement before selectors decide who will open against India in the real stuff.

On Friday there was growing optimism that Adelaide will hold onto the first Test starting on December 17, after the exposing of a lie from a pizza bar worker prompted the South Australian Government to announce the state’s strict lockdown would be relaxed over the weekend three days early.

That and the fact there were no new community cases on Friday is a massive development for Cricket Australia officials, who are desperate to keep the pink ball Test at its traditional home in Adelaide.

Although South Australia’s chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier says the State is still “not out of the woods yet”, with Cricket Australia unlikely to have to make a decision on the Test until next week.

One key factor will be whether South Australia will still allow the current capacity of 27,000 fans to attend, given how crucial atmosphere is for the success of a day-night Test.

The fact Sydney and Canberra sold out five of the six white ball internationals against India on the first day of ticket sales shows the demand that’s out there to attend one of cricket’s marquee series.

Only 1900 tickets remain for the opening one-day international at the SCG on November 27, but otherwise the house full sign has already gone up at Manuka Oval in Canberra and for Sydney’s remaining ODI and two T20 matches.

Selectors will find it hard to ignore another big score from Will Pucovski.

“The rivalry between the Australian and Indian men’s cricket teams is one of the greatest in international sport and this series is shaping up as an epic,” said CA executive, Anthony Everard.

“It’s been fantastic to see so much interest in the ODI and T20I Series, with the high demand starting from Thursday with our pre-sale period offered to the Australian Cricket Family.

“It didn’t take long on Friday for things to move quickly, with now just a couple of thousand tickets remaining for the first ODI on November 27 at the SCG.

“We’re extremely grateful to the NSW and ACT Government for working with us to bring cricket to Sydney and Canberra, and this shows how strong the love for the game is.

“The safety of our fans will still be our number one priority, so communications to ticket holders will be occurring to ensure our COVIDSafe plans are executed effectively.”

The capacity at the SCG will be 23,000 for the series, while Canberra will allow around 8000 fans in the gates.

MORE CRICKET NEWS:

Marnus Labuschagne only played one Test against India two summers ago but says it was the making of him

TV NETWORKS NEED AN ANSWER ON ADELAIDE TEST

— Peter Lalor

Cricket will be forced to make a call on the Adelaide Test sooner rather than later with broadcasters hoping for an answer by Monday.

A call on the future of Will Pucovski and Cam Green is also fast approaching.

Any optimism felt when South Australia reported no new coronavirus cases on Thursday was tempered by news that Victoria had joined all the other states except NSW in imposing restrictions on travellers from Adelaide.

The 48-hour ban will stay in place until a permit process is introduced on Saturday night.

If travel between Melbourne and Adelaide was blocked though December it would create problems for production crews and others involved with the tour, with only four days between the Adelaide Test and the Boxing Day Test.

Cricket Australia has planned early for all outcomes, but any decision to abandon plans to begin the Adelaide Test on December 17 will be left to the last possible minute.

Broadcasters need to know sooner rather than later to co-ordinate the movement of equipment and are hopeful of an answer by Monday if not the end of the week.

There is a feeling that Melbourne is the first among fall-back options to host the first Test if it can’t be played in Adelaide.

Some argue that Victorians, deprived of AFL football for the winter and unable to see Virat Kohli in the flesh because he plans to leave after the first Test, deserve it.

Adelaide, however, remains the preferred venue.

“There’s some pretty scrambled brains at the moment trying to work out what all the contingency plans are,” coach Justin Langer said when the news broke.

“We’ve got to be agile, we saw it throughout the winter with the footy, we saw it with the rugby and the State of Origin. We’ll be agile, we’ve got to be creative and get the summer under way, especially with India out here, the rivalry between India and Australia is awesome.”

Langer, meanwhile, has continued his campaign of letting the public down gently in regards to Pucovski and Green being rushed into the national teams.

The coach and selector, like most within the Australian camp, believe that Matthew Wade and Joe Burns were critical in the rise of the current side and essential to its harmony. Chemistry, however, does not carry the same weight as runs and Burns is under pressure to find the form that justifies his incumbency.

Will Pucovski pushes for a spot in the Test side.

Green began bowling in the most recent Sheffield Shield matches, but is restricted to four overs a match as he comes back from stress fractures. The 21-year-old has remodelled his bowling action and is n a program to build up his workload with the re-engineered approach.

The tall batsman/bowler is in the limited overs and Test squads.

“In one-day cricket he’ll only play if he can bowl a few overs because that’s how we’ll set up the team,” Langer said.

“He hasn‘t had the white-ball experience to come in as a pure batsman, but if he can bowl a few overs, my gosh he becomes a good prospect.

“But Test cricket is different. He’s earned the right to play Test cricket on his batting.

“I love watching him bat. For such a tall batsman, he’s got so much time.”

Green’s recent innings of 197 for WA in the Shield match against NSW came on the back of a breakout season in which he averaged 63 and scored three centuries playing as a batsman only.

Pucovski’s 2020-21 began with a pair of double hundreds for Victoria.

“What we are seeing with Will Pucovski is exactly what we want to see,” Langer said. “We talk about knocking hard, he is banging so hard on the door of course he is putting pressure on the other six batters in the team.

“You can’t underestimate, however, stability in the team and we are ranked No.1 in the world at the moment and a lot of that had to do with the partnership between Warner and Joe Burns.

“We’ll be weighing that up over the next few weeks. We’ll get it right, well, we won’t because half the country will think we got it wrong, half will say we got it right. If whoever it is gets runs then we got it right, if they don’t we got it wrong.

“At this stage and I obviously know the power of opening partnerships, we got it really right the last 12 months or so and it’s going to need to take something very special to change that and Will Pucovski is doing that at the moment.”

MORE CRICKET NEWS:

Dean Jones, meanwhile, was remembered by the Karachi Kings side which won the PSL T20 in Pakistan earlier this week.

The Australian was appointed coach of the team in March before the tournament was suspended due to the virus.

The side carried cardboard cutouts with signs commemorating Jones during the play-offs and were determined to mention the role he played when they won the championship.

“Dean Jones, of course, gets credit because what he taught us, very few coaches in the world can,“ captain Imad Wasim said. “Wasim Akram, of course, deserves the trophy because he was our bowling coach, head coach, mentor and team president rolled in one. It’s an honour to captain this franchise.”

Originally published as Australia v India: Will Pucovski v Joe Burns selection battle now a live TV event