Australia head coach opens up on possibility of leaving out David Warner for 2nd BGT Test

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has opened on reports claiming David Warner could be left out of the final XI for the second Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India. Earlier, media reports emerged suggesting that Australia might leave out Warner to include Travis Head in the playing XI for the second Test match in Delhi. However, McDonald has said that his team hasn't discussed the possibility of including Head as an opener at all. 

"It's a sample size of one game, in Nagpur. We haven't discussed that (Head as opener) at all. The benefit out of losing the game so quickly is we've got a little bit more think time to work through what scenarios are for us and and that starts on Sunday," McDonald was quoted as saying on Perth Now. 

"We valued others skill sets in those extreme conditions. The hindsight is that those people that you will compare the competition for place around (Renshaw and Warner) didn't perform the way that we'd probably expected. Head had different thoughts on that, and that's fair enough," McDonald added. 

Warner performed poorly in the first Test match in Nagpur, where he could amass just 11 runs for his team. Warner was dismissed for just 1 run in the first innings and then was sent back for 10 runs in the third innings with Australia getting bowled out for 91. It was not just Warner but the entire Australian batting lineup except for Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith failed to show up with the bat.

India vs Australia, 1st Test

As far as the first Test is concerned, India won the match by innings and 132 runs. India started the game by dismissing the Australians out for 177 runs and then amassing a mammoth 400 runs to take a 223-run lead in the first innings. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin played a crucial role with the ball as they picked eight wickets between them. Rohit Sharma scored a brilliant century to help India post the huge total. Jadeja and Axar Patel also contributed with the bat as they scored a half-century each. 

The Australians then got bowled out for just 91 runs. It was their lowest Test score while playing in India. Ashwin picked up a five-wicket haul in the third and final innings to help rattle the Australian batting lineup. Apart from Steve Smith, none of the Aussie batsmen were able to negate the spin offered on the Nagpur pitch. Jadeja also pitched in by picking two wickets in the final innings. He was named the player of the match for his all-round performance. Thanks to the victory, India have now taken a 1-0 lead in the four-match contest. 

Image: bcci.tv