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Usman Khawaja, an opener, feels that since opening is
such a difficult task, a specialist should take over once David Warner
concludes his Test career, rather than pushing Marnus Labuschagne or anybody
else up to the position.
When Warner’s Test career expires later this summer,
perhaps after the third Test against Pakistan in Sydney in the new year,
Khawaja was asked about the idea of moving Labuschagne up to open the batting.
Australia coach Andrew McDonald suggested the move last week in an attempt to
get all-around player Cameron Green back into the lineup to partner with
starting all-rounder Mitchell Marsh.
Khawaja was adamant that Labuschagne should remain at
No.3 given his success in that role and said he was wary of messing around with
the order too much given the difficulty of opening the batting.
“Have you asked Marnus this? I think he would
give you a really clear, ‘hell no’,” Khawaja said. “Marnus has got
opening-itis. I am pretty sure Davey Warner hurt his arm and sent Alex Carey
out to open. I think that is a long shot.
“Opening is not easy. It’s tough work. I can tell
you that because I’ve batted at [No.]1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 for Australia. I’m
telling you by far opening is the hardest and it’s very hard to bring someone
who hasn’t opened.
“I’m positive if you put Marnus up there at
opening he would do very well. But would he do as well opening as he does at
No.3? I’m not sure.
“I wouldn’t want to take the risk [given he’s]
averaging 55 [56.81] at three and Steve Smith averages 60 [58.61] in general.
So, you wouldn’t want to mess around with it too much.
“Opening can be a very, very tough thing to do
mentally more than physically so I’m always a bit shy of not letting people who
haven’t opened much in the past open the batting.”