Matthew Hayden believes that the Australian team will miss the dynamism and consistency of David Warner in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy later this year. Warner, who featured in 112 Tests for the Aussies contributing 8786 runs at a healthy average close to 45, recently announced retirement from international cricket.
"For the first time, it doesn't feel as secure," Hayden, himself a left-handed opener like Warner, said on Wednesday. "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. So I think he's an enormous loss in terms of how do you replace them."
Warner has played 21 Tests against India scoring 1218 runs at an average of 31.23 with four centuries, all of them coming in Australia, where he has 760 runs in 10 Tests.
Hayden, who was in Mumbai for the Ceat Cricket Rating Awards, is against the idea of having Steve Smith as an opener. He explained his argument. "The rationale that George Bailey [chief selector] gave was correct. He thought it was about choosing his best top six players, batsman.
"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 to a completely different position."
Hayden also reckoned that Pat Cummins will end up being one of the greatest captains of Australia. "He's a great of our game," Hayden said of Cummins, who has won the World Cup and World Test Championship (WTC) as captain. "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.
"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-centre 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 also felt that a five-Test series against India can be more exciting than a series of three or four Tests. "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. 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."
India and Australia have not played a five-Test series since 1991/92 and will begin their much-anticipated series in Perth on November 22. That will be followed by Tests in Adelaide (from December 6), Brisbane (from December 14), Melbourne (from December 26) and Sydney (from January 3). India have won the last two series in Australia, in 2018/19 and in 2020/21 and Australia have not laid hands on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for over 10 years, since the home series in 2014/15.
