IND vs AUS 2017, 3rd ODI: David Warner Optimistic of Getting Success in Indore

World Champions Australia hasn’t been at their best in the recent past, and their current limited-overs results aren’t up to scratch. Even in the ongoing ODI series against the Men in Blue, Australia is trailing 0-2 in the five-match series and needs something special to make a comeback from here.

Opener David Warner hasn’t returned with particularly good scores in the first two games. While Kuldeep Yadav dismissed him in the opening ODI, it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s terrific outswinger which sent him back to the pavilion at Eden Gardens. The ball moved just enough to take the outside edge of his bat which was taken safely by Ajinkya Rahane stationed at the slip cordon.

Speaking of the current performances and the World Cup-winning team of 2015 Warner asked everyone to understand the fact the two teams are different and the dynamics are also different.

“The team has changed from the 2015 World Cup, but Warner feels that with 30 more matches to go before the 2019 World Cup, they will be able to prepare themselves pretty well.

“I think what you have to realise is we were world champions with a different team,” Warner was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo. “The team that we had when we won the World Cup was totally different. There was a totally different dynamic. The team has probably chopped and changed a little bit since then, and it’s about the players putting numbers on the board and playing to the best of their ability.

“We’re trying to work towards the next World Cup, we’ve got about 30 games, and that was the same lead-up and preparation we had with the previous team so we’ve got to find a stable team and once we work out what’s going to be the best to defend the World Cup. At the moment, it’s a work in progress. Can’t say that teams are better than us or we’re better than other teams.”

Warner was also sympathetic towards his opening partner for the series, Hilton Cartwright who is playing ODI’s in the subcontinent for the very first time has scored only two runs in the first two matches.

“It’s always challenging for a young guy to come into the team and take the bull by the horns. It is very, very difficult. Especially when you come over here and play for the first time on a world stage against one of the best ODI teams in their own backyard – it can be overwhelming. What he brings to us is a lot of energy and, I’ll say, experience in his knowledge of the game as well. He is a workaholic, he loves the game of cricket, he brings a good dynamic to us, and we thoroughly love having him here.”

Warner further added despite the failure of the youngsters, the proven customers who have been in India before cannot keep failing and should not hide behind such excuses.

“You grow up on wickets that are fast and bounce, and then you come up to the subcontinent, and it’s your first Test series, it’s very hard to adapt. But when you keep coming back, there’s no excuse,” Warner said.

“You should know the conditions very well. In saying that, when you’re out there, you become tentative. The game situation dictates that if you lose a couple of wickets, what do you do? Do you use your feet? Do you play with one stride? They are the things that you have to work out and adapt when you’re here. So as a senior player coming back to these situations, you should know your game well enough. Our talk in the one-day format is to get off the strike, to hit the guys in the boundaries; you should know that game very well,” Warner said.