India vs Australia, 3rd Test: David Warner Set to Return; Call on Will Pucovski Later in the Day, Says Coach Justin Langer

Opener David Warner is set to return to the Australian playing XI for the third Test at the SCG, starting January 7, with a possibility of a new batting partner in Will Pucovski, coach Justin Langer hinted on Tuesday after talks with selectors Trevor Hohns and George Bailey.

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Warner had to miss the first two Tests and part of the limited-overs series due to a groin injury and even though he is still not 100 percent fit, Langer said that his batting is fine, even as he might be restricted when it comes to fielding.

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"I think his batting will be fine," Langer said, adding, "There might just be some different movements he needs to make in the field, so we'll probably get him in the slips. He's going to be playing with pain though and it's not so much in the muscle but in the tendon area. We're confident that unless he does something exactly like he did in the one-day international, it's not something that's going to re-injure him. He's going to have some pain … but he's willing to take that on and hopefully it won't hamper him too much".

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The other big call that Australia may make is the addition of Will Pucovski, who was primed for a Test debut at the start of the series, but a concussion in the warm-up game derailed the plans for the hosts. The final call will be made later today. Joe Burns has been dropped from the squad and the selectors have specialist openers in Pucovski, Marcus Harris, and Matthew Wade to choose from to partner Warner at the SCG.

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Pucovski has undergone examination by an independent neurologist and has been told the latest head knock has not left him at increased risk of long-term damage, Langer said today as reported by cricket.com.au.

"There's no reason why Will can't be selected now, it's just about working out the balance of our team, where we're at in the series, all those things that go into selection. He's going to be up and raring to get picked, and ready to play for Australia if he's selected," said Langer.

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (c) (first Test only), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj

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