We’re not going out there to entertain the idea of sledging or banter: David Warner

It seems Australia have learnt their lesson from India’s previous visit. Contrary to what captain Steve Smith had to say, deputy David Warner asserted that the Aussies don’t plan to sledge India, Virat Kohli in particular, who profited from their verbal jibes in the previous Test series. Warner himself was in on the act in the practice match against India A according to Shreyash Iyer but seems to have changed his mind.

“We’re not going out there to entertain the idea of sledging or banter. It’s out there and playing good cricket and a great brand of cricket and making sure it’s in the spirit of the game. For us, it’s about going out there and playing our brand of cricket.”

Warner pointed out that sledging brings the best out of Virat which is why the Aussies would particularly try to refrain from it against him. “Virat Kohli is one of those players, if you niggle at him, it either makes him better or if you get under his skin, he’ll probably get even better. He’s a world class player at the moment and for us, it’s about going out and playing the best cricket we can,” he added.

He was one of the few Australians to underperform in the fruitful practice match, along with Nathan Lyon who was smashed for 162 runs at an economy of over 5.5 despite picking up 4 wickets. However, the 30-year-old wasn’t disappointed by or his performances.

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“I’m not disappointed at all. That’s what happens with my game, the way I play I’m either going to go on and cash in. Or I’m going to get out cheaply. That’s the way I play,”

Talking about Lyon, he said, “I thought he (Lyon) bowled very well. When you’ve got a player (Iyer) who is in on a hundred, it’s always hard to contain with short boundaries. You’ve got to try and tinker a little bit, think a bit more. And out there he did that, he asked a few of the players what their thoughts were,” said Warner, adding, “I’m sure that he’ll look at a bit of footage and see what he can do to improve from what he bowled out there.”

Warner praised India’s premier bowler Ravichandran Ashwin, calling him “a very, very good bowler” and claiming that he’d “hate” to see Ashwin at his 100%. At the same time, he said that the Australians know what to expect from him and “Everyone’s got their plans against Ashwin”.

He was boisterous about Australia’s mood and confidence ahead of the series but was mindful of the daring challenge the Indian bowlers will present them with. He also described the challenging conditions that sets India apart from other countries and stressed on the importance of “mental toughness” and “having plans in place”.

“The guys are in a great frame of mind, we’re ready to go. We’re pumped. And it’s been a much-anticipated series so we’re really looking forward to getting out there. You’ve got to have that mindset, and you’ve got to be positive with that and you can’t second guess yourself. If you second guess yourself, you’re out, so you’ve got to stick to your plan and adapt out there,” Warner said, adding that the players who have found success in the Indian borders are the ones with great mental toughness.

“You’ve got to have your plans in place, and you’ve got to stick to them. The biggest challenge here is being mentally fresh. You’ve got to have mental toughness. You’ve got to be willing to grind it out and bat time here. The ball is going to get soft fast. They’re going to bowl tight lines early on with the ball swinging, and then you’ve got to assess. Whether it’s letting the ball come to you, rotating the strike, attacking or defending the spinners.” Warner said.