Langer mulls opening options but Marnus not among them

Justin Langer concedes there is uncertainty surrounding his batting line-up barely 48 hours from the start of the Vodafone Test Series against India, but he is unequivocal on one point of conjecture – Marnus Labuschagne won't be elevated to opener.

Labuschagne's name was floated as an option against the new-ball after incumbent opener David Warner, and the Test number three indicated he would be prepared to move up the batting order if required.

But as Langer wrestles with which permutation of Joe Burns, Marcus Harris and Matthew Wade he'll deploy against the pink new-ball at Adelaide Oval, he was quick to remove any additional names from that ongoing debate.

"Marnus won't be opening," Langer told a media conference today. "At the moment we've got Joe Burns and Marcus Harris here who are the openers, so got some tough decisions to be made but as I've said over and over, tough decisions are good decisions.

"There's a lot of balls in the air.

"I wish we could be a lot more definite, not only for you guys (media) but more importantly for our players that we can be really definite and we knew we're going to go in with this.

"Until we get a few things ticked off we can't make any decisions yet."

Among the main items to be "ticked off" during Australia's remaining pre-Test training sessions at Adelaide Oval today and tomorrow are Burns' worrying lack of recent form and allrounder Cameron Green's recovery from concussion.

If Green is passed fit, Langer has already confirmed the 21-year-old will make his Test debut which means a middle-order reshuffle will be needed to accommodate the new inclusion at number six where Wade batted for a bulk of the 2019 Ashes campaign in the UK.

The 198cm allrounder would essentially play as a specialist batter given the restrictions placed on his bowling as he continues his rehabilitation from back stress fractures he sustained last summer.

"We talk about the six batsmen who can score hundreds, and if they can bowl overs it's a bonus," Langer said today.

"In Cameron's case, he might bowl a few overs but he's earned his right purely through weight of runs."

With Green in the starting XI, it seems likely Wade would then slot in as opener despite never having batted higher than five in his 31-Test career to date.

"He could handle anywhere," Langer said today when asked if Wade was ready to tackle the job against India's new-ball attack. "He's tough - mentally tough and physically tough. He's got good footwork, he's got the game for it. He can counter attack like David Warner does, like a lot of the great openers do.

"He can definitely do it, we've just got to work out the best make-up of our team is going to be. There's a lot of talk about it."

That discussion has been fuelled by the concussion suffered by uncapped Victoria Will Pucovski, who was earmarked to fill Warner's berth until ruled out of contention last weekend, and Burns' inability to produce a sizeable score so far this summer.

Langer acknowledged he's been a strong advocate for Burns who opened alongside Warner in Australia's previous Test series against Pakistan and New Zealand last summer, despite the Queenslander posting just 62 runs (average 6.89) from his nine first-class innings so far this season.

But the coach also indicated his preference for the Test team to remain "as settled as possible whilst Davey (Warner) is injured" which means Burns and Harris are likely to open if Green is ruled out, while Wade looms as an interim opening prospect if the young allrounder earns a call-up.

"I've been privately and publicly backing Joey (Burns) in the whole time," Langer said today. "He's a very good player.

"You don't lose your talent overnight (but) he also understands that runs are the greatest currency of value to any player.

"He's been a bit light on, but we'll have a look at him.

"We'll get eyes on him today (at training). We'll see how he's going.

"We'll have a chat to him today and we'll make our decision on who is going to open in the next day or so."

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: December 17-21, Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (day-night)

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