Bat with a free mind, says Warner
GUWAHATI: Steve Smith’s shoulder injury ahead of the T20I series dealt a blow to Australia’s campaign. But as his team stares at another series defeat on their Indian journey, the visitors look to draw inspiration from Smith.
Stand-in captain David Warner failed to guide his team in the rain-hit first T20I in Ranchi. And ahead of the second match on Tuesday, the explosive opener said the team would be guided by Smith’s philosophy.
“It’s about following on from what Steve’s values are and what we do to respect him. I try and follow those same key messages to the guys to ensure when we’re on the field we’re doing our best, making sure we’re committed,” he said.
Warner said captaincy was tough and everyone will have to chip in. “When you’re out there and you’re not captain, you don’t have the pressure to keep thinking all the time. The ideas everyone else brings to the table, you say that to the captain, you give him ideas and that’s what we do to help each other out because it is a tough job when you’re out there.”
Australia haven’t been able to sort out issues that have been troubling them since the start of the tour, in particular the tendency to lose quick wickets in the middle overs, especially to Indian spinners. “We’ve just got to keep playing the game we know. You can’t worry that a collapse is going to happen. No one’s worried about that at all,” he said. “We know when we go well we do very, very well.”
CHALLENGING SERIES Warner admitted Australia cannot afford to give India openings.
“We try and win every game possible. Just getting a victory over here is always challenging… If you give India a sniff on home soil, or even away, any team, they’re going to pounce. You have to be on top of your game to beat an opposition in their country. We’ve got a lot to play for.”
TOUGH SCHEDULE Australia face a packed playing schedule when they return from India, with the Ashes series against England starting in the last week of November.
“It’s a very tough schedule as it is for every country. You’ve basically got to pick and choose when to rest your big players, when you’re playing a long series, and then you’ve got Test matches coming up. Or, you’re playing a Test like we did and there was a Twenty20 on. It’s quite hard as a player to understand why, but these are things that are put in place years in advance.”