Australian opener Matt Renshaw said he can learn from opening partner David Warner about how to handle spin as it seeks to avoid a whitewash against Bangladesh in the second Test in Chittagong, beginning on Monday.
Warner hit a rare fourth-innings century in the first Test but could not take his side home as other batsmen failed to complement his effort. Australia finally fell 20 runs short of its target to suffer its first defeat against Bangladesh, sparking huge criticism back home.
Preview: Australia aims to salvage pride
Renshaw - the youngest player in the visiting side at 21 - who top-scored in Australia's first innings with 45 said the team could still take some positives from the first Test, including Warner's batting.
‘Easy’ Warner
Warner failed to get his start in the first innings, when he was dismissed for eight, but transformed his game in the second innings to hit 112, only his second Test century in Asia and his first in the subcontinent. "You could see the difference from his first innings to the second innings, how light on his feet and how easy it was for him to move out to the ball and then back - as far back as possible," Renshaw said of Warner.
"You hear the greats talk about batting on the subcontinent and it's trying to get to the ball and smother it or get right back and play it as late as you can," he said.
Contrasting height
Renshaw said despite his apparent failure to give Warner good company in the second innings, when he was dismissed for five, they could still make strong opening partners in the upcoming Ashes series starting in November. "I'm not a bowler myself but I know that it's probably tougher to find your length especially against someone who's as tall as me and as short as Davey. So I think it's going to be interesting," he told reporters in Chittagong.
Renshaw said Australia - which is seeking to salvage its pride after the defeat to Bangladesh - must give its young players time to develop into a better team. "We're all new to the team - Ash (Ashton Agar) played four years ago and came back and it's good to see that he's come back so well in that first Test. I think we're all just trying to learn. We're all quite young and we've all got a lot of cricket ahead of us so we just want to try and learn off the senior players and try and help build a bit of our own culture for the future," he said.
Australia risks dropping down to sixth in Test rankings if it loses the second Test against Bangladesh.
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