'Lot of balls in the air': Australia not in best shape ahead of first Test against India

CHENNAI: As early as last year, Australia's captain Tim Paine had mentioned the importance of starting the Tests against India in Brisbane. It was a different world back then. Even though New Zealand and Pakistan were scheduled for the 2019/20 summer, Australia were already talking of India, who inflicted a series defeat at home on them on pitches that the hosts didn't like.

After a decade of fiery rivalry, the 2018/19 series was different. Sure, there was a Virat Kohli-Paine spat, but it hardly matched the temperature levels one had got used to in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. 

Paine wanted to set the record straight this time, which is why they wanted Gabba for the first Test. It's a venue where Australia have not lost a Test in 31 years. It is where Australia are used to pushing the tourists to the back foot and then landing punches they don't recover from. Brisbane, followed by Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney was what Paine and Australia wanted then.

It was all in keeping with a reputation of being hosts who didn't mind making the visiting side's stay as hard as possible. But the pandemic has trashed those plans. 

Although they wanted to start the Test series at the Gabba, the Queensland government's firm stand to not allow quarantining in Brisbane meant they had to alter plans. Now, the last Test will be played in Brisbane.

Their team might not like it, but Cricket Australia has been a welcoming host, so much so that the schedule was made according to India's liking. After a long time, a team will play the first Test after spending 34 days in Australia. They have considerable rest between the second and third Tests. This is not what Paine and Co wanted.

On top of that, Australia are now dealing with numerous injury-related headaches. David Warner is unavailable and so is Will Pucovski. Alternatives like Marcus Harris and Joe Burns don't have runs behind them. New hope Cameron Green hasn't cleared his concussion test yet. And if these weren't enough, Steve Smith didn't train on Tuesday because of a sore back. 

Unlike India, who have more or less confirmed their XI, Australia are still waiting. Langer, however, confirmed that Marnus Labuschagne will not be promoted from No 3 to stop-gap opener in place of Burns.

"He's a very good player (Burns). You don't lose your talent overnight. He also understands that runs are the greatest currency for any player and he's been a bit light on that. We'll get eyes on him, see how he's going, have a chat. We'll make our decision on who will open in the next day or so. We'll try and stay as settled as possible while David is injured. We've got some tough decisions to make," Langer said on Tuesday.

Even though playing a half-fit Smith would be a risk, it would at least ensure Australia are strong on paper. They usually reveal the XI a day before the match, but such are the times that Langer himself isn't sure. "We've got to pick our six best (batsmen) and that's all part of the jigsaw puzzle. There's a lot of balls in the air, I wish we could be more definite, not only for you guys but for our players. But until we get a few things ticked off, we can't make a decision."