Australia's Pat Cummins Backs Struggling David Warner For Second India Test

Australia skipper Pat Cummins brushed off concerns Thursday over David Warner's batting form and said he was certain the opener would play in this week's second Test against India. The left-handed Warner scored one and 10 at Nagpur last week and has struggled for form since scoring 200 in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa in Melbourne. "I'm not a selector. I don't think they've had a meeting but I'm sure Davey will be there," Cummins said of Warner's inclusion in the New Delhi Test, which starts Friday.

"You saw this year at the Boxing Day Test when he puts pressure back on the opposition he's pretty hard to bowl to. You don't get as many good balls, so he knows that. I'm sure that'd be part of his plan," said Cummins.

"He has been batting really well here. Even in the lead-up I thought he was fantastic.

"I know there's a lot of talk about spin bowling through the middle, but with that new ball it's sometimes the hardest time to bat as well."

Australia were bowled out for 91 in one session in the first Test of the four-match series in Nagpur to lose by an innings and 132 runs inside three days.

Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith showed some fight in an otherwise dismal batting display, but Cummins remained hopeful of a turnaround on another spin-friendly pitch.

"I think the planning has been really good and now it's about going out there and doing it and at times that might be being brave enough to take a calculated risk," Cummins said of his batsmen's plans.

"They've been really good, they're all really strong in their plans, trained really well, so we will see how we go."

'Show how good you are'

Australia are expected to make changes from the Nagpur drubbing, with spinner Matthew Kuhnemann, returning fast