Australia opener David Warner says he is prepared to curb his attacking instincts in order to succeed in the three-Test series against Sri Lanka. Warner and Co are finalising preparations ahead of the first Test getting under way in Kandy on Tuesday, with the powerful left-hander averaging just 36.16 in matches in Asia, compared to a career average of 50.06.
Having made only one of his 16 Test hundreds on the sub-continent, and heading into the series without a century on foreign soil in the longest format since October 2014, Warner is relishing the challenge of showing the differing aspects to his game. "You've got to be patient," Warner said. "You've got to rotate the strike. Your patience comes with hitting your four balls, your boundary balls. They're the ones you've got to really wait on.
"That's what we're talking about with patience in this game, especially over here. "The challenge for us is about batting long periods of time. You've got to be able to bat well into the next day and that's the focus for us. "If I have to bat for a day or a day-and-a-half, I go out there and I try to do that. But the element of my game is to try to score runs. "I try to apply pressure on the bowlers and that has always been my game plan. That's what I always set out to do and I probably won't change that."
Warner has not played since fracturing his left index finger in ODI action against South Africa in June, sitting out Australia's warm-up game in Colombo last week. "It's going well at the moment, a couple of times when I've hit on the toe of the bat, it's been a bit painful," he said. "I think I play my best cricket when I'm fresh, and the last six to seven weeks has been fantastic. "Obviously I hit a bit of form in the Indian Premier League and ODI tri-series and you never want to sit out matches, but due to a break I was forced to do that. "But I'm ready to go and I can't wait."
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