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Our players can read spinners, says Australia’s Warner
Indore, Sep 23 (IANS) Australia vice-captain David Warner on Saturday dismissed the claims that his team is not reading India’s spinners on the current tour.
Australian batsmen struggled to pick the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav as in the first ODI in Chennai, chinaman Kuldeep returned with 2/33 while leg-spinner Chahal scalped three wickets for 30 runs.
In the second match in Kolkata, Kuldeep (3/54) took a hat-trick and Chahal chipped in with two wickets.
“I find that the players can read the spinners. And that it’s the odd one or two that when they can’t see the seam, then the players react off the wicket and that’s probably the odd one here or there,” Warner told reporters here.
“At the end of the day, you have to have a game plan against spin — whether or not to hit down the ground or sweep the ball. But when you’re losing wickets in clumps, you become tentative. So you have to apply that pressure (early).
“If you get off to a good start and the spinners come on, it’s a different game then. It’s about the tempo of the game, and the situation of the game and I feel if we were in a different position, you’ll see a different mode against the spinners,” he added.
Commenting on the injury of batsman Aaron Finch, Warner said its good to see him at the nets and the conditions here will suit his style of play.
“He is a very good batter. And he has played a lot of cricket for us over the past couple of years. He’s got a lot of experience and, for us at the top of the order, he brings a lot of aggression. It’s good signs to see him back in the nets and he’s doing everything he possibly can to be fit for this game,” Warner said.
On a 10-match overseas losing streak, the Steve Smith-led side will have their task cut out and face a must-win situation on Sunday to have a chance at the trophy.
On the other hand, India are currently on an eight-match winning run, and hold an upper hand at Indore, where the men-in-blue have a 100 percent winning record (won all four of their matches so far).
“I think what you have to realise is we were world champions with a different team. The team that we had when we won the World Cup was totally different,” Warner said.
“There was a totally different dynamic. The team has probably chopped and changed a little bit since then and it’s about the players putting numbers on the board and playing to the best of their ability,” he added.
–IANS
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.