David Warner attributes white-ball success to Test cricket

The opening batsman reflects on his career ahead of his 100th One-Day International.

Published : Sep 27, 2017 15:52 IST , Bengaluru

 David Warner will play his 100th One-Day International on Thursday.
David Warner will play his 100th One-Day International on Thursday.
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David Warner will play his 100th One-Day International on Thursday.

There’s more to David Warner than meets the eye. He may be known worldwide for his destructive batting in the shorter format of the game, but the Australian opener owes his success to Test cricket.

The 30-year-old Aussie believes he could survive long because he realised early in his career that the game was not all about going hammer and tongs. "I’ve learnt a lot in the early stages of my career. One, how to play the game; you can’t just come out and tonk it from ball one like in Twenty20 cricket. And I sort of adapted to that approach to four-day cricket and then Test match cricket actually allowed me to play the game properly and show myself that there's a lot more time in 50-over cricket than there was in 20-over cricket," he said with a smile ahead of his 100th ODI on Thursday.

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Warner admitted to the quizzing scribed of Bengaluru he was proud of his feats. "To be established where I am from where I came, I'm proud of that," the opening batsman said.

'Consistent'

While his achievements in the shorter format of the game is much appreciated, Warner believes consistentcy in Tests has given him the push. "Going back 18 months, I really felt consistent. Playing Test cricket really allowed me to actually nurture my game in the 50 overs and take my time and try and bat through the middle period as well," he said, quickly adding: "Not bat in such an aggressive manner and play the game as it is and let it unfold and set the platform for the other guys coming in."

Read: Warner rubbishes Hogg's claims

When he arrived to international cricket, Australia had a stable middle-order and needed someone to fire at the top of the order. And Smith says Warner did just that.

"I didn’t really think about that when I first came into the setup. We had Pup (Michael Clarke), Smithy (Steven Smith), Mike Hussey — these guys that were such good finishers. I just thought my role was to go out there and blast through 15-20 overs. And you don't realise it that you're there to bat (for) 50 (overs)," he said.

High benchmark

The last year and a half had taught him an important lesson. "Through the last 18 months I've had such a consistent patch because I've learnt to adapt to that mentality well now. And if I get myself in, (I) try to be there towards the 35-40 over mark, and go on with it," he said, adding: "I would pride myself on doing that. And setting the benchmark of 150. For any of us as an opener, if you get in, that's the benchmark to try and achieve in your innings."

While a series defeat against India is disheartening, Warner looked happy to have experienced new things in his first ODI series in India. "It's my first ODI series in India. Coming here to play ODIs for the first time has been different. Obviously with two new white balls, the first two games have been different — first a 21-over game and then in Kolkata the ball was swinging around and it was totally different to what I expected. That's probably the toughest conditions I faced from a white-ball point of view. It swung a lot more than what it did in England. I think [it is handy] when you adapt your games to the conditions," he said, admitting that the game in Indore was ‘probably an example of traditional one-day cricket.'

"The ball didn't swing as much, the wicket was nice to bat on (in Indore). I obviously didn't make the most of getting in. So that's probably a thing for me to reflect on and hopefully I can bring out here in this game and go on with it," he said, hoping for a good run in Bengaluru.

After all, by his own admission, form is temporary, class is forever.

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