India will be battling Australia in a 4-match Test series, a fray that will mould the fate of the two WTC finalists for the latest edition of the Championship. India is currently in the second position and will have to avert a defeat in at least 3 of their last 4 Tests in the ongoing cycle.
Considering the fact that Australia is an absolute titan of red-ball cricket, it is going to be everything but easy. Australian opener, David Warner opened up on how the series can shape up as two titans of red-ball cricket goes head-to-head with each other. Talking in a media interaction post his blistering double-century in his hundredth Test, Warner spoke at length about the opposition that India is and how the conditions in the sub-continent will be defining the fate of the series.
Talking about the pitches, Warner said, “We know what we’re going to prepare for, they’re going to be turning wickets. It’s different with the venues, Nagpur and Delhi quite dry, then Dharamsala that time of the year, we’ve played there, and we probably should have won that Test, we lost that ourselves.”
He also said how Australia is planning to counter those challenging conditions, adding, “There’s going to be times when it’s going to be challenging over there, but it’s about how our batters can build and bat big like we did in Pakistan. I think with the ball, we’re going to do a fantastic job, we’ve got a world-class spinner in Nathan Lyon and we’re going to have to potentially think about playing two spinners.”
Warner then shifted his focus towards himself, stating, “I wish you’d start talking about my age, I don’t feel 36. As I said before, I’m running faster than a lot of these youngsters in here so when they catch up to me then I might think about pulling the pin. The extra motivation for me is winning in India, and completely winning a series in England. I’ve been told by the coach and the selectors they would like me to be there. Obviously there was a lot of stuff before this series going on in my mind.” He concluded by saying, “Was there doubts? Yeah of course there were doubts in my mind but for me it was about just going out there and still knowing I’ve got that hunger and determination because every time I rock up at training, I’ve got it. And people keep telling me ‘you’ll know when it’s time’, and I haven’t really felt that at all yet. I’m still enjoying it, I still know what energy I can bring to the team. I think once I start losing that spark and energy around training and taking the mickey out of people and playing some jokes here and there, and pranks, I think that’s when I’ll probably know it’s time.”
