Australian opener David Warner dismissed criticism that the visitors were struggling to read the home spinners in their ongoing series against India in Indore on Saturday ahead of the third One-Day International.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have consistently bamboozled the visitors in the series but Warner said it has got nothing to do with the batsmen’s ability to pick their line. The Aussies are currently trailing 0-2 in the five-match series.
Explaining the predicament, the left-hander said listless batting at the top makes it difficult to take the spinners head on.
“I find that the players can read them. One or two of the players probably can’t see the seam. Players react off the wicket. One needs to have a game plan against spin. When you lose wickets in clumps, one gets tentative,” Warner said at the pre-match press conference.
“One has to apply pressure. If you get off to a good start and the spinners come on, it is a different ball game. The tempo is different.”
Asked if it was a technical flaw or a mental block that was getting in the way of performing well, Warner said it’s an issue they face due to growing in a completely different scenario but seniors have no reasons to make excuses.
“When it comes to technique...you grow up on wickets that are fast and bouncy, when you come to the subcontinent, it is your first series and it is hard to adapt. When you keep coming back, there are no excuses. You should know the conditions,” he said.
Warner, captain Steve Smith, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, James Faulkner, Glenn Maxwell, and Matthew Wade have played enough in India during the Indian Premier League and in bilateral series.
“When you go out there, you become tentative. The game situation dictates the situation. You lose a couple of wickets, what do you do? Use your feet. Do you play with one stride.
“You have to adapt here. As a senior player coming back to these conditions, you must know the conditions. You should know how to find the boundary and rotate strike,” Warner said, calling on the seniors to take lead in breaking the shackles.
The captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad rued the dismal show of the batsmen.
He referred to the lost platform in the second ODI in Kolkata, where they had a good partnership between Smith and Stoinis but the middle-order collapse steered them to a 50-run defeat.
‘Our mindset is to score runs’
“The batters have been disappointed. Our mindset is to score runs and put the bowlers under pressure. It was difficult to get going in the first couple of overs in both the games.
“As an opening batsman, it was quite hard to get any kind of rhythm. The Indians bowled an exceptional spell first on and got two early wickets. We had a partnership but it did not carry on.
“Steve Smith spoke about this to the guys that when we get in, we had to stay till the end. We did not have any batters at the end, except Marcus Stoinis. We needed another batsman with him,” he said.
Talking about his own struggle, Warner expressed helplessness but remained optimistic. In two matches, he has scored 25 and 1.
“If I had the answer, we would be winning. We have had a lot of games with weather interrupting. At the end of the day, we are not winning. We have had batting collapses, we have to work on that. There are no answers. It just happens in the game but there will be a turnaround.”
They are the reigning world champions and their current plight does not go with their status but Warner said not much can be done.
“We are world champions but with a different team. When we became world champions, we were playing with a different team. There was a different dynamic. The team has undergone some chopping and changing.
“We have to find a stable team and one which works out best for the 2019 World Cup. It is a work in progress,” he said.
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