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Little-known spinner Matt Kuhnemann could be rushed into the Australian team for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series after being flown to India while David Warner may have played his last Test with Travis Head being considered to replace him at opener.
Kuhnemann is on his way to India to replace Mitchell Swepson, who is heading back to Australia to attend the birth of his first child. A left-arm orthodox spinner, the 26-year-old is a “live chance” to be rushed into the team for the second Test in Delhi after the three-day capitulation at Nagpur, according to coach Andrew McDonald.
Uncapped at Test level, Kuhnemann took six wickets in four ODIs for Australia on last year’s tour of Sri Lanka and the Queenslander has taken 32 wickets in 12 first-class outings at 34.25, including a best effort of 5-25.
“We feel as though with the balance of the squad we wanted four spinners here; two going in, two going away,” McDonald said on Sunday. “That was heavily discussed if we needed a spinner to go the other way so Matt comes in with Mitch going home to see (partner) Jess.
“He’s (Kuhnemann) a live chance to play in the next Test match. If we play three spinners then we clearly want back-up here and available in the squad if that’s the way we want to go.”
Australia are contemplating playing three spinners with all-rounder Cameron Green set to return from his finger injury to back up captain Pat Cummins as a pace option.
Matthew Kuhnemann takes a wicket during the ODI series in Sri Lanka in June. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)
Warner is under the pump to keep his spot after twin failures of one and 10 in the innings defeat in the series opener and Head, who was controversially omitted from the opening match despite a strong summer output on Australian soil, could be selected as an opener alongside Usman Khawaja, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report.
“It’s a sample size of one game, in Nagpur,” McDonald said when asked about Warner. “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).
“We go down to the ground and work through that, but that hasn’t been a discussion at this stage.”
As for Green, McDonald said “we’re hopeful” he will be fit. “It’s been six weeks now. I think he’s actually got his final X-ray or scan today. He does allow us different options to the way that we want to structure up.”
Former Test captain Mark Taylor has gone into bat for Warner, saying “David’s been around long enough, and I know he’s had plenty of opportunities [but] I think you’ve got to give him at least the next Test match to get it right,” he told Wide World of Sports. “It doesn’t really matter where you bat; you’re going to face the same stuff. So I would be sticking with the top two at the moment.”
As calls grow louder for mass changes, captain Pat Cummins hit back at critics of their team selection in the wake of their humiliating innings and 132-run drubbing in the first Test .
Australia will travel to the Indian capital full of selection dilemmas, with fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood – as well as Green – pushing to prove their fitness after missing the first Test.
Legendary Australia captain Allan Border – after whom the series is partly named – said it was “as bad as we can play”.
“There’s so many scars there now, it’s going to be a tough few days,” Border told Fox Cricket. “You can talk the talk, but ultimately the boys with the bat in hand and ball in hand have got to do the job.”
Travis Head, the world’s No.4-ranked batter, was controversially axed for the series opener due to his poor record in Asia. Playing his first Test since January 2019, Peter Handscomb was serviceable at No.6, but Queensland left-hander Matt Renshaw had a nightmare batting in Head’s usual position.
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“We were confident it was our best XI this week,” Cummins said. “We know the quality Trav is. He’s a huge part of this team but we were confident in the 11 guys out there.
Pat Cummins of Australia chases a ball to the boundary. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
“He’s been really good around the group, he’s been out the back working really hard on his game like he always does.”
After losing inside three days at Nagpur’s VCA Stadium, the players have knocked back the opportunity to rest ahead of the crucial second Test in Delhi.
Australia were bamboozled by star spinners Ravi Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, crumbling to be all out for 91 – their lowest Test total in India – in just their second loss since Cummins became skipper in November 2021.
India have claimed the last three Border-Gavaskar series and will be assured of retaining the trophy if they go 2-0 up at Arun Jaitley Stadium, starting on Friday.
Australia travelled to the subcontinent full of confidence they could win a Test series in India for the first time since 2004, but it would take something special to salute from here. They have never won a series after losing the first Test in a four-match contest.
But Cummins is confident Australia can bounce back and put in a more competitive showing in Delhi.
“Sometimes it’s almost easier to put behind you those kind of losses,” Cummins said.
“You are looking at small margins, you have to have a hard look at your game and the big strides you need to change to give yourself the best chance next week.
“We’ve had a really good run the last 12 months.
“There hasn’t been many losses in that change room. I don’t think we need to reinvent the wheel, it’s just tweaking different approaches to how we play, and maybe particular methods.
“Everyone came with pretty clear plans. The challenge is, under the furnace to be brave enough to be proactive at the time.
“That will be the conversation over the next couple of days. We faced some pretty tough bowlers at times. Playing in India, the game really speeds up.
“All their bowlers bowled really well, really put the pressure on us and next time we’ve got to find a way to manage that.”
Winning the Border-Gavaskar trophy after a humiliating first Test defeat seems unlikely, but Australia only need to look to their Indian opponents for inspiration.
Two years ago, India secured one of their most famous cricketing triumphs by saluting 2-1 in Australia after crashing to 36 all out in the series opener in Adelaide.
The victory was even more memorable as they did it without several key players, including star batter Virat Kohli.
After heading to India full of confidence over the prospect of a breakthrough series win in the country, Australia appear set for a long and arduous tour.
Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates taking the wicket of Matt Renshaw. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
But India captain Rohit Sharma is not prepared to write Cummins’ team off, even in the conditions ideally suited to the home team.
“There are a lot of the guys who played in that series who are not here for Australia and also a few of our guys are missing,” Sharma said.
“Australia love playing Test cricket, they pride themselves in coming out and representing their country. We are quite aware of them bouncing back. We are by no means ruling them out or anything like that.
“We want to play the cricket that we played in this game. We want to continue to do that in the next three games that we have.”
But Sharma was surprised the first Test didn’t go longer than three days as Australia collapsed in a session to be skittled for 91 – their second-lowest total against India.
“We were prepared to have a hard day of bowling and spending time on the field, session after session, we never thought they would get bowled out in a session,” Sharma said.
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