IND vs AUS | Selection decisions give you a few headaches but they’re good to have, insists Justin Langer

With the series against India approaching close, the Australian team management will have some tough decisions to make when it comes to the selection of the team as they have plenty of players who are performing well and deserve to get a chance in the playing XI. Expectedly, Australia head coach Justin Langer admitted they have a few selection headaches ahead of the three-match ODI series against India starting on November 27 at Sydney.

Langer confirmed that Steve Smith will straightaway find a place in the XI in place of the injured Mitchell Marsh in the first ODI against Virat Kohli’s men on Friday. Smith has returned to the ODI squad after he missed Australia’s last series against England due to a concussion.

“We’ll probably lean that way (picking Smith for Marsh) but we did learn and we’ve talked about in our foundation for one-day cricket going forward, we really like that extra bowling option,” Langer said as quoted by Cricket.com.au.

The former Australia opener, however, stated that they would like to have that extra cushion of a bowler which they had in the presence of Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, and Marcus Stoinis, which gives them some ‘good’ selection headaches. 

“In England, we had Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell able to get us at least 10 overs. So we like that combination, the extra all-rounder. Obviously, Steve will come straight back in. There’s a lot of talk about selection, they give you a few headaches, but I promise they’re really good headaches to have,” Langer added.

Langer pointed out that Moises Henriques and Cameron Green are other options on the table, which is very exciting for the selection panel. Both the players have been performing well in the current season of Sheffield Shield, making a strong contention for a place in the XI. 

“Mo (Moises Henriques) is very, very experienced. He’s in great form, deserves his opportunity back in the team on performance. Then you’ve got Cam Green, the youngster, 21 years old, huge potential. He’s bowled the last two Shield games for Western Australia. I’ve said publicly if we’re going to pick Cameron Green he has to be bowling in one-day cricket specifically, not so much in T20 cricket or Test cricket because we go for a different set-up in those two forms of the game,” Langer said.

“He bowled well in the nets yesterday. He’s a young fast bowler, he’s 200cm, so we’re obviously very sensitive to his physical health – he’s had two stress fractures in the past. But he’s up and running, he’s bowling well and he’s certainly given us another option at the selection table that is really positive and exciting.”