Australia coach Justin Langer believes he will get a better idea of the composition of his Test squad after the completion of the ‘A’ team’s tour of India.
Australia are due to take on Pakistan in a two-Test series in the UAE this October and Langer has stated that the squad will be finalised only a week before the start of the tour. The team management will be taking into account the performance of Australia ‘A’ in India before taking a call on the selection.
Australia ‘A’ are currently participating in a quadrilateral one-day series in India also involving India ‘B’ along with South Africa ‘A’. The limited-overs fixtures will be followed by two first-class matches against India ‘A’ in September.
The international cricket bans handed to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft has thrown up multiple vacant spots in the batting order and Langer is hoping players can stake their claims for these roles in the tour of India.
“It’s unprecedented. We’re going to wait until probably a week before the UAE tour to select the (Test) team,” Langer told the Weekend Australian.
When asked if he knew who his best batsmen were, Langer replied: “The answer is straight up no. Do we know the best six batsmen in Australia? The answer is no.”
Mitch Marsh will lead Australia ‘A’ in the first-class matches.
“It’s two-fold with India and Australia ‘A’. One, we want to see who performs under pressure and two, we want to start to get some continuity in our side where possible, but we also need to reward performance, not just talent,” the Australia coach added.
While Travis Head is currently leading the Australia ‘A’ squad in the one-day matches in India, all-rounder Mitchell Marsh will take over the captaincy in the two first-class matches.
The Australians have picked many Test regulars for the first-class matches in India apart from Marsh and Head. Among them are Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja and Matt Renshaw.