Heaping praise on Virat Kohli, Australia opener David Warner has said the India skipper was in the form of the last few decades.
The Delhi batsman enjoyed a brilliant 2016, where he scored heavily across all formats and against all oppositions. The last year saw him scoring 2,595 international runs at a stunning average of 86.50 and he began 2017 in a similar fashion by scoring another double-century in the ongoing Test against Bangladesh to take his career-tally to four double tons.
Speaking to India Today, the Australian batsman said:
“I am not going to say he is in the form of his life because it seems to be a form of the last decades the way he is playing. You know he is a fantastic player a great sport. He is an exceptional player.”
Meanwhile, Warner is under no illusion that his team will have to play exceptional cricket in the upcoming four-match Test series against India to stand any chance of getting a good result. The world number one team has been playing some exceptional brand of cricket in its ongoing home season. After winning the Test series in the Caribbean, Virat Kohli’s men have won successive series against New Zealand, England and the one-off Test against Bangladesh.
“We do know that India are playing very good cricket and in their own backyard they are exceptional.They crush teams. You look at England series. England scored 4 to 500 runs. India always seems to have an answer. For us as an Australian cricket team we have to respond better than that. We have to have a plan in place and if they are not in place you are crushed. We are coming here to play our best brand of cricket and to beat India,” said Warner.
Speaking about his team’s game plan, he said:
“With the ball we need to take early wickets upfront. Wickets are going to turn. Spinners will have to put their hands up bowl long spells and take wickets. Ashwin and Jadeja are doing there for a long time in India. To take 20 wickets is going to be very challenging but we are up for that task. We have to prepare for that and we are definitely preparing for that.”
The Test series starts on February 23 in Pune.