New Delhi: Australian batsman Shaun Marsh was on Friday dropped for the Boxing Day Test against West Indies.


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The decision is somewhat of a surprise considering the left-hander scored 182 against the same opposition in the 1st Test at Hobart.


With Usman Khawaja returning from injury, the Australian think tank opted to retain Joe Burns and Marsh.


"Joe has been playing quite good cricket. He scored a hundred only a couple of Tests ago so that was a big part of it. They average 80 as a pair and it's pretty important to have a good opening stand. They've been doing a very good job so the selectors thought that was the right way to go,” Steve Smith was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo


"We're always talking about what's coming up as well. There were a lot of conversations around it. Shaun is obviously extremely unlucky to miss out after scoring a brilliant 180 in the last Test match, and 49 under a bit of pressure in the Test before that. There were lots of talks about it but they believe that's the best way to go, going forward,” the skipper further added.


While Marsh may perceive the decision as harsh, having multiple batsmen in form at the same time bodes well for Australian cricket.