Sunil Gavaskar’s brutal warning shot to Will Pucovski

Australia has been given a brutal warning that Will Pucovski will face a short ball interrogation if he’s picked to debut in Adelaide.

Legendary Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar has warned Will Pucovski can expect a barrage of short balls should he play Test cricket Picture: AFP

Australia has been given a brutal warning that Will Pucovski will face a short ball interrogation if he’s picked to debut in Adelaide next week.

This is the verdict of one of the game’s most respected voices and the Godfather of Indian cricket, Sunil Gavaskar who says if Australia is concerned about Pucovski’s concussion issues, then do not play him.

Gavaskar firmly believes that once Pucovski steps inside the rope, sport’s laws of the jungle apply and any perceived frailty will be fully exploited.

“Definitely. I think you would expect that to happen. Once you enter the ground whether it’s playing for your country, or even playing for your state or club, you’re going to cop it,” said Gavaskar, who has arrived in Australia to commentate the summer for Channel 7.

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“If the word is that you’re not really comfortable against a particular delivery, you’re going to get a lot of it. I don’t see India easing up because he’s had a history of concussion.

“They’ll be saying, ‘well if he’s got a history of concussion, then don’t pick him in the team. But you can’t restrict us bowling what we want to bowl.

“That’s not just with India.

“If an Indian player had a similar problem, the Australians would try and exploit it. That’s par for the course.”

It was a very different story when the two teams met at the corresponding Adelaide Test in 2014, in the first Test match back after the tragic passing of Phillip Hughes.

There was an aversion to bowling any bouncers, and when Mitchell Johnson finally did drop one in short and badge Virat Kohli on the helmet, the fast bowler said he felt sick to his stomach and was rocked by the incident.

But the prospect of how India might target Pucovski is a real factor in the ultimate decision Australia’s medical staff and selectors make on whether or not the 22-year-old plays nine days after suffering a mild concussion in a tour match. Pucovski is in good spirits with the Australia A squad in Sydney and may travel to Adelaide to be with the Test team even if he ends up not playing.

Gavaskar pinpointed Mohammed Shami as India’s most tricky exponent of the short ball.

“He’s got as good a bouncer as any I’ve seen,” said Gavaskar.

Will Pucovski stays down after being struck on the final afternoon of the Australia A game on Tuesday Picture: Getty Images

“He’s not very tall. His bouncer skids at you and skids at you at pace. He’s pretty accurate with his bouncer as well. He can really unleash a lethal bouncer.

“He’s difficult to negotiate, mainly because he’s not very tall. With tall bowlers you can have an idea how high the ball is going to bounce but with Shami it’s just a bit more difficult. He comes at your head pretty quickly.”

Gavaskar weighed further into Australia’s selection dilemmas, claiming India would be laughing if Cameron Green was omitted from the first Test.

Australia’s problem is that Green is a middle-order batsman, where there are no vacancies, but Gavaskar said a team without the 21-year-old allrounder would be doing India a massive favour.

“He’s got a 100 in the warm-up game … I would imagine the Indians would not want him to be playing because he’s got the confidence,” said Gavaskar.

“Look at the options he gives you. Clearly he’s a talent. He’s the kind of bowler who is going to come in and bowl a couple of spells … that takes a load off your fast bowlers if they haven’t got the early breakthroughs.”

The Daily Telegraph