Explosive Australian opener David Warner, who has been struggling in the ongoing four-match Test series against India, has insisted that he is hitting the ball properly, but “it’s just that the runs aren’t coming for him at the moment”.
Warner has made 38, 10, 33, 17, 19 and 14, for a series tally of 131 runs at 21.83 in the six innings he has played so far. However, he is not the only batsman who has been struggling for form in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“I feel fantastic, I couldn’t be hitting the ball any better but it’s just that the runs aren’t coming for me at the moment,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Warner as saying after the drawn third Test in Ranchi.
“That will come, it will turn around. I just have to keep being disciplined and making sure that my preparation is still the same – not change anything, and just go about my business as I do,” he added.
Out of the 18 Test centuries which Warner has scored, 14 have come at home and three in South Africa. The remaining Test hundred came against Pakistan in Dubai in 2014. The explosive left-handed batsman averages in mid-30s in India, Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand.
“Numbers always pop up everywhere. For me, it’s about putting my best foot forward and trying to put my team in a position that we can either defend or win games. That’s what that’s about,” Warner said.
“Everyone in world cricket, greats and legends of the game have had stints overseas or at home (where) they’ve had some form slumps. That’s just the game of cricket,” he added.
It should be noted that it is not Warner’s first slump in recent times.
After scoring a hundred in the first week of 2016 against West Indies, Warner did not manage another until the final week of the year, when he plundered 144 against Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test. Warner, who has been able to provide his team with at least steady starts alongside Matt Renshaw, maintained that such starts should be turned into more hefty platforms.
“For the team’s sake we need to get off to a good start,” Warner said. “As a partnership, me and Renners have been getting off to an okay start. None for 50 over here, you need those to be none for 100. We’ve seen the Indians do it before, batting big and [making] partnerships of 200,” he added.
The four-Test series is currently poised at 1-1, with the final game to be played in Dharamsala beginning March 25.
