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Why Matt Renshaw should be left out of the Aussie team

21st February, 2017
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Matt Renshaw is starring for Australia A. (AAP Image/David Moir)
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21st February, 2017
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With confetti still flicking at his feet and shadows lengthening on the outfield at Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo last August, a pragmatic Darren Lehmann conceded conventional wisdom in the sub-continent needed to be challenged.

Australia had just copped another hammering to Sri Lanka in the third Test – this time a 163-run hiding – that sealed the jubilant hosts a 3-0 series victory. It was Australia’s third straight Test series had been whitewashed in Asia following a 4-0 loss to India in 2013 and 2-0 defeat to Pakistan in the UAE in 2014.

Remember that leading into the series, Australia were ranked No.1 in the world and had lost just one Test match to Sri Lanka in 26 clashes over 34 years. They went on to lose three in three weeks.

The message was blunt.

For a coach whose trademark is an emphasis on simplicity, Lehmann was emphatic in his outlook with four Tests in India looming in six months.

He had a mandate to change the way Australia approached the toughest assignment in world cricket – beating a rampant Virat Kohli-led side on the parched pitches in a country where the memories of a rare away series triumph in 2004 were starting to fade.

We all know about Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing something over and over again and expecting a different result.

“We have underperformed. There is no hiding from that. The difference is, we have got to change on the sub-continent,” Lehmann said on August 17 in Colombo.

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“Results would say that. Obviously, with India, (against Pakistan in the) UAE and now Sri Lanka, we have got to change how we pick and shape up a squad for the sub-continent.”

And that’s why Matt Renshaw shouldn’t be picked for the first Test in Pune starting Thursday.

In essence, Lehmann’s mindset had moved stridently towards the dreaded “Horses For Courses” selection policy; dreaded in the sense it flies in the face of cricket convention that a batsman who makes runs in Brisbane is just as capable of racking ’em up in Bangalore, Barbados or Birmingham.

But for Australia, at least, it hasn’t worked often enough.

Renshaw’s Queensland teammates Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja are as solid a testimony to this as anyone.

They both scored heavily against New Zealand and the West Indies in the Australian summer before the Sri Lankan series but after two humbling Tests in Kandy and Galle, they were deemed mentally frail and axed.

Rangana Herath, Diruwan Perera and Lakshan Sandakan made them look a shadow of their former selves within 10 days.

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Selectors hit the right note with Renshaw – and Peter Handscomb – after the debacle of the first two home Tests against South Africa.

It took pretty big cojones to pick a 20-year-old who had only just clocked up 10 first-class games.

But they saw in him an opening batsman with an old-fashioned approach, a precious breed with a long-form temperament who could anchor a Test innings as David Warner and Steve Smith blazed away around him.

Australian batsman Matt Renshaw

He hit 184 against a lively Pakistan pace attack. He was watchful and composed. He caught well. He gave an insecure side a tangible lift.

I don’t want to see all that come undone in India.

He made a strong start to his Test career in large part because most of his Sheffield Shield runs were banked on the fast and bouncy Gabba deck. His Shield apprenticeship was brief but it was appropriate for the speed that Pakistan was to throw at him: Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali and Sohail Khan.

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Yes, he also blunted their skilful legspinner Yasir Shah, swept him, drove him, cut him and negotiated him with authority.

But Ravi Ashwin takes a top-class batsman to a whole new level of inquisition. Ravi Jadeja will get it fizzing and spitting on day two as well. India might even go with a third spinner. Ashwin may even open the bowling.

If not he’ll get a hold of the ball around the 10th over of the innings. Jadeja will get a go in the first 15. Getting a nice coverage of grass on the pitches in Pune, Bangalore, Ranchi and Dharamsala will be as likely as the heavens delivering snow to the Gabba.

Renshaw gets plenty around the ribs and shoulders in Brisbane; that hardly sets him up well for the low and dusty decks of India. It would be like sending a bull rider from a rodeo into an equestrian event; dealing with the fast and furious won’t necessarily cut it when soft hands and subtlety is required.

So why would you send Renshaw into the fire?

His CV has little to suggest he can handle the Ashwin-Jadeja baptism. He might turn out to become an adept player of spin bowling, but throwing him in now might just be too big a handbrake on a promising Test career.

His temperament has been impressive already. He has a long reach and his long levers and huge stride might mean he can get down the wicket to drive and sweep. Let him continue to make runs in Hobart, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne against some crafty Sheffield Shield slow bowlers.

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My Australian XI for Pune: David Warner, Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade, Steve O’Keefe, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

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