Justin Langer eyes Australia-A's India tour for senior team selection
Australia coach Justin Langer has admitted that he is still not sure about the top batsmen in the Australian side in recent days. However, he is hoping for an answer from the upcoming quadrangular series involving Australia-A along with India-A, India-B and South Africa-A to be played in India.
The Australian side is in some trouble since the ball-tampering incident in South Africa in March. The Aussies will be playing a two-match Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in October while spots in the batting line-up remain open. The Australians will play five one-day games, and a possible final, before a couple of first-class games which will most probably be the basis of team selection for the Tests against Pakistan.
"It's unprecedented. We're going to wait until probably a week before the UAE tour to select the (Test) team," Langer told the Weekend Australian.
"It's two-fold with India and Australia A. One, we want to see who performs under pressure and two, we want to start to get some continuity in our side where possible, but we also need to reward performance, not just talent," the Australian coach said.
All eyes will be on batsmen Matthew Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head and Kurtis Patterson, as well as allrounder Mitchell Marsh, who will captain the four-day side, during the upcoming series. Langer feels that it’s a huge task to be the coach of a national cricket team.
“How big the job is and the level of scrutiny that was so different to what I'd experienced coaching Western Australia,” Langer stated.
A lot of cricket is scheduled to be played by the Australians in the coming days. The Pakistan Tests will be followed by a tough limited-overs series at home against South Africa. Virat Kohli-led Team India will then tour down under and the Lankans are scheduled to play two Tests against the Aussies as well.
Talking about his role as a coach in the team, Langer said, “Certainly I'm gaining greater clarity in the foundations of what we are trying to achieve in the team for the next few years. I'm getting clarity about leadership. My huge focus is organic leadership and it can't just be about the title 'C' or ‘VC’, it's got to be about developing these young blokes.”