SYDNEY: Like so many members of the Test squad that embarked on Australia’s ill-fated ‘homeworkgate’ tour of India in 2013, David Warner returns with a point to prove.
Warner played all four games in that four-Test series, which came three months before his infamous altercation with Joe Root in a Birmingham bar.
The opener has peeled off 15 Test tons and averaged 53.3 since that series, also collecting the Australia vice-captaincy along the way.
Warner has matured on and off the park since, but also been given a crash course in the subcontinent school of hard knocks during Australia’s nine-Test losing streak in Asia.
“I’ve learned a lot in the four years since,” Warner said, reflecting on his first tour of India.
“It was tough … I really learned a lot about myself back then. I was a bit younger and a bit childish in a way.
“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 … we probably found out the hard way last time we came here, you can have a rush of blood.”
Warner looms as one of the key players in the four-Test series that starts in Pune on Thursday.
Rightly identified as a danger man by Ravichandran Ashwin last week, Warner has the potential to dismantle India’s attack on his day.
But if he goes after the wrong ball early, as was the case during Australia’s rock-bottom collapse in Hobart this summer, the top-ranked Test side will feel all the more bullish as they seek to extend a 19-match undefeated streak.
Warner won’t produce the sort of ruthless aggression that resulted in a century before lunch on day one of this year’s SCG Test. However, he made it clear “you’ve got to be positive” in Mumbai.
“I’m not disappointed at all. That’s what happens with my game,” Warner said after scoring 25 and 35 against India A in Australia’s only tour game before the first Test.
“The way I play I’m either going to go on and cash in, or I’m going to get out cheaply.
“If you second guess yourself, you’re out.”
The 30-year-old captained Hyderabad to the 2016 Indian Premier League title, but failed to post a score of substance during Australia’s 3-0 series loss in Sri Lanka later that year.
Warner returned from a broken finger for that first Test against Sri Lanka, failing to play a single tune-up as he raced the clock to be fit.This time he is both mentally and physically refreshed after skipping an ODI tour of New Zealand.
