Follow UsFormer Australia captain Mark Taylor has backed Cameron Bancroft to open for Australia in the Test series against India in case Cameron Green is not fit for the series. Green is expected to miss the India Tests due to a suspected stress fracture which he picked up during Australia's white-ball tour of the UK recently.
Taylor feels Bancroft can open with Usman Khawaja, with Steven Smith dropping down to his preferred No. 4 spot.
"It's an awkward one, isn't it? Cam Green was out of the Australian side during the Ashes series of last year, and Mitch Marsh came in, but Australia were very keen to get him back in," Taylor said on Wide World of Sports.
"I think Smith will move back to No.4. So the question is, who will open? I'd love to see a right-handed opening batsman get the opportunity. And to me at the moment ... I would have Bancroft pencilled in alongside [Usman] Khawaja," he further added.
No player has scored more runs than Bancroft in the Sheffield Shield since 2021, with 1,872 runs at 46.8, which includes as many as eight tons - the most by any batter in the competition in this period..
However, Australia decided to open with Steven Smith to accommodate Green in the middle-order during the Tests against West Indies and New Zealand. With Green potentially out, this could very well be Bancroft's way back into the Test side for the first time since 2019.
But the 31-year-old opener began the 2024/25 Sheffield Shield season with a pair against Queensland.
The five-match Test series between India and Australia will begin on November 22 in Perth.
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