With Australia’s World Cup campaign kicking off tonight, there is still one question that remains to be answered: which two batsmen will open for the Aussies?
It would be ludicrous to argue that skipper Aaron Finch will not occupy one of the opening spots, however, the other position is a two-man race between the red-hot Usman Khawaja and one of Australia’s previously preferred openers, ex-vice-captain David Warner.
Khawaja has been in stellar ODI form in 2019, averaging 59.15 with two centuries across 13 official matches (not including the warm-ups against New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka) to date. He also scored 89 in the Sri Lanka warm-up.
Likewise, Warner produced a dominant display in the IPL, averaging 69.2 and leading the run-scoring charts all while maintaining a strike rate of over 143.
It does seem as though Warner will be the preferred choice to join his captain in the opening spot. If this does turn out to be the case, this then begs the question, where does Khawaja bat?
The obvious choice would be at first drop before ex-captain Steve Smith, however, Khawaja’s form in the number three spot is much less flattering than that of his opening form. He’s averaged 38 when coming in at the fall of the first wicket.
Due to this conundrum, former Australian great Mark Taylor has suggested that Khawaja will be dropped to accommodate the return of Warner.
Khawaja would be very stiff to miss the team altogether, although this is a possibility as, if he gets pipped for the opening spot, he will be in a tight contest with Shaun Marsh for the number three position. Marsh has had a solid summer switching between the three and four, and has averaged 38.6 at number three and 60.5 at number four this year.
The second opener will depend on what Australian selectors value more: current ODI form, or recent IPL form coupled with a strong history opening in the national side.
At 10:30pm tonight, all will be revealed when Australia announce their playing XI. For now, here’s who the selectors will likely choose to face Afghanistan:
1. Aaron Finch (c)
2. David Warner
3. Usman Khawaja
4. Steve Smith
5. Glenn Maxwell
6. Marcus Stoinis
7. Alex Carey (vc, wk)
8. Mitchell Starc
9. Pat Cummins
10. Adam Zampa
11. Nathan Coulter-Nile/Nathan Lyon
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