‘I think a lot of us get carried away with trying to play a lot of big shots’ – David Warner © Getty Images
David Warner has counselled his teammates to shelve a few of their big shots before the journey to the World Twenty20, after a succession of intemperate strokes led to a heavy loss in their short-form opener against India in Adelaide.
Also critical of Australia’s fielding on Tuesday night in Adelaide, Warner homed in on the issue of batting with more control and respect for the size of Australian grounds, after Ravindra Jadeja and company were able to sucker the hosts into repeated errors with wily spin bowling.
“It was 4 for 50 off eight, that’s always something we need to improve on – it’s something we’ve always spoken about,” Warner said on arrival in Melbourne. “During those middle overs, I think a lot of us get carried away with trying to play a lot of big shots and not actually trying to take advantage of the big fields in Australia.
“I think in India you get away with trying to hit boundaries because it’s a bit smaller, if you just hit either side of the fielders around the bat you can get a lot more value for your shots. Basically here our batting wasn’t there last night and that’s trying to get twos on the big fields.
“We have to be mindful of that and careful. Losing 4 for 50 in eight overs to spin is not ideal, and something we have to work on is pinching those twos and hitting the ball down the ground. You can go for the odd big shot, generally that comes in the first two balls of the over, then you’ve got to see if you can score six or seven an over after that.”
The opening defeat, Australia’s second loss in a row after they also allowed India to successfully chase a steep target in the final ODI in Sydney, has ramped up further pressure over the issue of Usman Khawaja‘s absence from the national team, despite his prolific scoring of late. Warner maintained that others deserved their chance.
“There’s obviously been a lot of hype and talk about Usman Khawaja, but at the end of the day if you can tell us who the selectors can leave out then you’ve got a discussion there,” he said. “But at the moment all of the guys going as well as they can.
“The nature of the beast in this game is you’ve got to keep scoring runs and wait for that one person to hopefully not stuff up and take their place. All the guys are in serious form and it’s going to be a very hard nut to crack.”
Australia’s players are wired up to converse with the Channel Nine commentators during T20Is at home, and Steven Smith appeared distracted at times by the back and forth before his dismissal, which earned a sizeable send-off from Virat Kohli. However, Warner defended the practice, saying players needed to be prepared to entertain as well as play.
“We’ve been doing that for the last couple of years,” he said. “Obviously it’s not in the interests of Channel Nine to disturb us while we’re out there and for us to be dismissed. It’s upon us to be responsible and professional to understand that’s what’s happened when you’re out there.
“It’s about entertainment, that’s why we’ve seen it with the Big Bash, we’ve done it plenty of times on Channel Nine, it gives a great insight for people at home to understand how we’re dealing with situations when we’re out there. I’ve done it and I feel no added pressure, it’s great I can actually give people at home an indication of what we’re trying to achieve.”
The second match of the series is at the MCG on Friday.
Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @danbrettig
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo