The anticipation for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been tinged with concern among Australian cricket fans, as former opener Matthew Hayden believes the team will deeply miss the dynamism and consistency of David Warner. Warner, who officially retired from international cricket after an illustrious career spanning 112 Tests with 8,786 runs at an impressive average of close to 45, has left a significant void in the top order.
“For the first time, it doesn’t feel as secure,” Hayden, a left-handed opener much like Warner, expressed candidly on Wednesday. He elaborated on Warner’s immense contribution to Australian cricket, emphasizing that Warner’s competitive spirit and dynamic approach had significantly boosted the top order’s momentum. “David Warner gave a great service to Australian cricket. He was extremely competitive, wonderfully dynamic. He really took that legacy that I’d created through the 2000s. His strike rates in excess of 80 (70.19) gave great momentum to the top order which, otherwise, is quite conservative,” Hayden noted. “So I think he’s an enormous loss in terms of how do you replace them.”
In his career, Warner played 21 Tests against India, amassing 1,218 runs at an average of 31.23, including four centuries—all achieved on home soil in Australia, where he scored 760 runs in 10 Tests.
During his visit to Mumbai for the Ceat Cricket Rating Awards, Hayden expressed his reservations about having Steve Smith open the innings. He argued, “The rationale that George Bailey [chief selector] gave was correct. He thought it was about choosing his best top six players, batsman.” Hayden acknowledged Smith’s tremendous capability as a batsman but held a firm stance on the uniqueness of the opening role. “Now, you can’t argue with that. Steve Smith averages 65 (56.97) and has 30 (32) Test match hundreds. You know the role of an opening batsman compared to a middle-order batsman is very different. It didn’t take long to discover that [in New Zealand earlier in the year when Smith as an opener was not exactly a success]. I said at the time that I didn’t like the change. I think it’s crazy to think that you have the world’s best-in-class batter in a certain position, and then you change it to a completely different position,” Hayden said.
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Shifting focus to the leadership landscape, Hayden was full of praise for Australian captain Pat Cummins. “He’s a great of our game,” Hayden asserted, speaking about Cummins’ achievements, which include leading Australia to victories in the World Cup and the World Test Championship (WTC). “He has a very special leadership style and ability. It’s very different from the former kind of captains of the Australian team that were very much a carrot and stick type approach,” Hayden observed. He commended Cummins’ approach to fostering individual preparation within the team dynamic, which Hayden believes is crucial in a sport as team-oriented as cricket. “He’s operating on a model that’s bringing out the individuals’ preparation in particular, something in which I think our game struggles, being a team sport. Ultimately, [it’s] how you get the best out of an individual. He has a slightly off-center approach. I followed this team now very closely over the last two years, and they’re an extremely close team. Pat is a great leader, and he will go down as one of our greats.”
Hayden further shared his excitement about the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series, endorsing the idea of a five-Test series. “It’s going to be an unbelievable series and actually not without great minds coming together. It is even more special by extending it to five Test matches,” he said. Hayden elaborated on how a longer series adds to the competitiveness and narrative of a cricket contest. “In three Test matches you always feel half pregnant; in four Test matches there’s always that swinging boat whereas in five Test matches, you got a chance to win. You also get a chance to lose and then you get a chance to come back and win. I love it. It’s going to be a great series,” Hayden enthused.
The last time India and Australia played a five-Test series was back in 1991/92. The stage is set for another epic encounter starting in Perth on November 22, followed by matches in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and concluding in Sydney in early January. The upcoming series is highly anticipated, given India’s successful campaigns in Australia during 2018/19 and 2020/21, which saw them clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy consecutively. Australia, on the other hand, has not held the trophy on home soil since the 2014/15 series, adding an extra layer of significance to the forthcoming matches.