David Warner scored just 26 runs in three innings in this year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in India before returning home due to injury
Posted Date – 01:06 PM, Sat – 6/3/23
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London: Australia’s experienced left-handed opener Usman Khawaja believes his opening partner David Warner may have been at his best in the final days of practice for a crucial World Test Championship final against India, followed by is ashes.
Warner scored just 26 runs in three innings in this year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in India before returning home through injury. He averaged just 26.04 in England’s Test and struggled to average 9.50 in his final Ashes tour in 2019, with veteran Stuart Broad taking his wickets seven times.
“I’ve seen him hit the ball the past few days and I don’t want to curse him but he looks good. It’s probably the best I’ve seen him at the net in a while. It’s not always about running, But if we had any chance of scoring Davey Warner, this might be it,” Khawaja was quoted by the ICC as saying.
Khawaja was quick to draw attention to Warner’s double-century break in last year’s Boxing Day Test against South Africa. “When he’s got his back against the wall too, he’s always at his best. We saw him make a double hundred in his 100th game, and everyone was writing him off and telling him he was done. Well, it was his last game, he went out and got 200. You never write off a great player, so I’m looking forward to running,” he added.
For his part, Warner wasn’t involved in any pre-Ash teases ahead of the highly anticipated series, which kicks off June 16 in Edgbaston. “It’s just selling papers and clickbait, so I’m not going to get involved in any of that. I’ll keep them to myself.”
“Today, there’s no real jokes in the field. It’s just about playing quality cricket and trying to get the upper hand on each other. There’s a lot more connection now than before and I think that’s really good for the game,” he concluded .
