Burns' confidence boost after repaying selectors' faith

Joe Burns has thanked coach Justin Langer and selectors for their support after he found form in Adelaide, copping a nasty blow to the arm before completing both an unbeaten half-century and Test victory.

Burns' woeful slump had been a talking point for over a month leading up to the first Vodafone Test.

The incumbent opener started the season by scoring 62 runs from nine first-class knocks, including failures in each innings of the two Australia A tour matches he played.

The concerning numbers prompted former selector and captain Allan Border to declare selectors would be doing a disservice to the "shot" batsman by retaining him in the Test XI.

But Langer continued to back the Queenslander, publicly and privately.

Burns finished 51 not out on Saturday, when Australia swept to a 1-0 series lead after rolling India for a record-breaking 36.

The batsman almost doubled his run tally for 2020-21, also managing to outscore India's second innings by 15 runs.

"I didn't get many runs in the build-up," Burns told Fox Sports with typical understatement.

"I just wanted to keep fighting hard.

"It's a really nice moment ... it feels bloody nice.

"I've been trying to keep it as simple as possible. I know I can do the basics well and make runs.

"JL has been fantastic, the selectors sticking with me helps."

Image Id: 48E6D532A7B54085B380A80008DFF7FC Image Caption: Joe Burns is congratulated by Tim Paine // AAP

Burns brought up the winning runs and his half-century with a six when he hooked a short delivery from Umesh Yadav, with Jasprit Bumrah dropping the catch and palming the ball over the rope.

The 31-year-old required treatment late in Saturday's opening session after being hit by a ball from Bumrah.

"Burnsy is a very tough player ... he'll probably get a scan," Josh Hazlewood said.

"It blew up a fair bit straight away ... fingers crossed."

Burns admitted it his arm was "pretty sore".

"I might numb it with a few beers tonight," he said.

Tim Paine, who like Langer had publicly backed the incumbent prior to the day-night Test, was thrilled to see Burns bounce back.

"Burnsy is a really important part of our team and all cricketers know how hard it is when you're going through a run like that," Paine said.

"To come out in Test match cricket and try and find your way out of it – it's a very, very difficult place to be.

"It will do his confidence the world of good."

Vodafone Test Series v India 2020-21

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Joe Burns, 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

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: December 26-30, MCG, 10.30am AEDT

Third Test: January 7-11, SCG, 10.30am AEDT

Fourth Test: January 15-19, Gabba, 11am AEDT