The pairing of Steve Smith at three and Marnus Labuschagne at four doesn’t seem to work the way Australia would have wanted in this World Cup 2023. Although Smith is Australia’s best bet at three and numbers back Marnus’ spot at four, former legend Matthew Hayden feels for the Oz to find a rhythm and break loose, this pair must be separated for good. Hayden called for Cameron Green to open alongside Warner and Marsh to play at three and Smith at four against Pakistan.

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With both Smith and Marnus playing the anchor roles, given their similar styles of play, Australia failed to pounce on the chances in the middle overs during the first two matches (against India and South Africa), which they lost.

Against Pakistan, another side with a potent bowling attack, Hayden wants Australia to make an unlikely change to their batting order and crack open the Pakistani attack on the batting-friendly Bengaluru pitch.

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“I don’t think it does,” Hayden told ESPNcricinfo when asked if pairing Smith and Labuschagne together works. 

“I don’t think they’ll change things either. To me, they have got a front anchor out and a back anchor out and the innings goes nowhere because they are both well and truly stable.”

“It’s fine to have one stabiliser, I think it’s really important to have a mind like Steve Smith at the top of the order when you start to set totals or chase totals, you need that computer mind, but when you have two of them in a row, I think it creates pressure through the top six, so I’d make a change there.”

Green at the top, Marsh at 3 vs Pakistan – Hayden

Considering Travis Head will open once he returns to the XI, and Marsh will play at three then anyway, Hayden feels why not make such a change now and play Green at the top, giving him license to play freely and attack from the ball one.

“Give him a licence, Cam Green at the top,” Hayden said. 

“To me, he’s a kid who hasn’t necessarily found his tempo in any format of the game, but what we saw here during the IPL is that Mumbai Indians just sent him out and said, kid, just smash it.

“Mitch [Marsh] won’t like to come down to three because he’s had great success in his ODI career opening, but soon enough you are going to get [Travis] Head back in there, so ultimately Mitch is going to bat three, so make the change, create the initiative, do something different rather than sit and wait,” Hayden added.

Meanwhile, Australia must win this match against Pakistan to keep their hopes of qualifying for the semis alive.

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