Whitewash Against South Africa Was Shocking And Hurtful, Says David Warner
Mar 1, 2017 at 7:00 PM
Australian cricket team is fresh from a win over India in Pune, but there are few scars which have left them shattered in past, at least in their minds. Pointing towards the ODI whitewash they suffered late last year at the hands of South Africa, David Warner says the Baggy Green was in shell shock and were left dejected at the end of the series.
As reported by Reuters, the opening batsman opened about what changed the landscape of Australian cricket in past three months at home, where after suffering a 2-1 beating against Proteas in Tests, they went on to clinch series against Pakistan, both Test and ODIs, and New Zealand, only ODIs.
Claiming to have been shown the mirror at the end of Proteas’ tour, Warner said, sometimes such a loss get things going for an opposition and that’s what happened with them.
“It was obviously quite painful, that loss at home. South Africa outplayed us, but we’ve moved on from that and Smudge (Smith) got us all together and we galvanized well. I think it takes a loss like that at home sometimes to really get guys going. It’s not that we needed that, it’s just the fact it’s a bit of a reality check that you can have one bad session, and it can be taken away from you even on home soil.”
Led by Aaron Finch, Australia lost their last Chappell-Hadlee series against Kiwis and thus ended their mixed bag of summer in a cheerless manner. However, turning the tables around have been their forte and a win in two and a half days against India, the number one side, is a proof of it.
The explosive batsman, who scored 38 & 10 in the match reserved some words of praise for his partner Matt Renshaw. The rookie apart from gaining laurels for showing grit in both innings came up against an unfamiliar situation, which made the world take about him.
“He played fantastic. It could have been a different story if he stayed out there or he didn’t come off but the way he played and the way he adapted from coming off, being sick and going back out there was credit to him. We’ve never seen him play in these conditions as well, so we know how he can play and that’s the good thing about this game.”
Australia and India will face-off in the second Test match in Bengaluru, which begins on March 4.