David Warner no No.3 says Mark Waugh, Usman Khawaja should be first drop

David Warner was demoted to No.3 with Usman Khawaja the preferred opener for the 2016 Twenty20 World Cup in India. It backfired. But is history set to repeat itself? Mark Waugh believes it shouldn’t.

Usman Khawaja is the leading ODI run scorer in the world in 2019.

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History is repeating for David Warner and former selector Mark Waugh is concerned it is going to be a mistake.

Three years ago Warner was demoted to No.3 with Usman Khawaja the preferred opener for the Twenty20 World Cup in India. The experiment backfired.

But just a week out from the 50-over World Cup and Warner again finds himself batting at No.3 with Khawaja opening.

Usman Khawaja is the leading ODI run scorer in the world in 2019.

Warner has never played an official ODI at No.3 and assistant coach Ricky Ponting warned not to read too much into his batting position against the West Indies this week.

“Justin (coach Justin Langer) is trying guys in different places,” Ponting said, noting Warner might open in Saturday’s practice match against England.

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“It keeps them on their toes and it probably keeps the other teams.”

But Warner looks a touch unsettled and the top-order instability is odd for a World Cup heavyweight.

David Warner was dismissed for 12 in Australia’s latest warm-up match, with West Indies.

The dilemma is this. Should Australia back in the Khawaja-Aaron Finch partnership that is averaging 91.8 runs in the current eight-match winning streak?

Or should it revert to the Finch-Warner paring that delivered Australia the 2015 World Cup?

Finch is certain to open to give Australia a left-hand, right-hand combination but who partners the captain remains a mystery.

While the Finch-Khawaja pairing fired against Pakistan it is worth remembering how damaging Finch and Warner were.

Between the 2015 World Cup and sandpapergate they put on 1350 runs at an average of 50. In the same time they had India’s Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma (40.9) well covered.

But opening with Finch and Warner could expose Khawaja.

If Khawaja walks to the crease at around the 20-over mark he could get bogged down by multiple spinners at a time Australia would want to rolling through the gears.

And so if Warner and Finch open is Khawaja, the world’s leading ODI run-scorer in 2019, a chance to be overlooked for the versatile Shaun Marsh?

Warner’s hot Indian Premier League form has cooled, although that doesn’t appear to be a major problem.

While Steve Smith has plundered 256 runs from his past three practice match knocks for Australia, Warner has made just 14 and he was dropped on zero in his comeback match.

But while Warner soaked up 13 consecutive dot balls before he was dismissed for 12 against West Indies, he’s the kind of guy that would save himself for the real thing.

“I would personally open with Warner,” Waugh said at Fox Cricket’s World Cup launch in Sydney.

“While the field is up he’s very aggressive, he’s got great intent and he can set the platform for the rest of the innings if he opens.

“I would personally pick Warner and Finch as the opening pair. There’ a lot of speculation about Warner not opening but I would definitely open with him.

“I think he’s our best opener actually. He’s the most dangerous, he’s in good form from the IPL. OK he failed in Brisbane in the warm-up games but I’d definitely go with Warner and Finch at the top.”