Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has revealed how he would shape the hosts batting line-up for the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Gabba.
The makeup of Australia’s batting order remains unclear after in-form batsman Kurtis Patterson was a late addition to the squad for the series opener in Brisbane.
Ponting would leave Usman Khawaja at the top of the order alongside rookie opener Marcus Harris, meaning Queensland pair Joe Burns and Matthew Renshaw miss out.
“I think I would be tempted to open with (Usman) Khawaja again,” Ponting told SEN Breakfast.
“He opened in the last Test match against India and that would leave (Marnus) Labuschagne at three. I’d probably go with Kurtis Patterson at four, Travis Head at five and (Will) Pucovski at six.
Win an all-expenses-paid trip for 2 to SuperBowl 53 in Atlanta, thanks to Red Energy.
100% the bucket list event of the year!
“That would mean that both (Joe) Burns and (Matthew) Renshaw would not make my final team and that’s the way I would go.”
The day-night Test gets underway on Thursday and you’ll hear every ball LIVE on 1116 SEN.