Published: May 18, 2016, 10:48 AM (IST)
Edited: May 18, 2016, 10:48 AM (IST)
Australia captain Steven Smith has admitted that playing around with David Warner’s batting position in the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup 2016 in India was a mistake made by his side. Australia were knocked out from the tournament in the first round itself, and they shuffled a lot with their top-order, which played a key role in their forgettable campaign. Warner’s batting position was not fixed in the Australian side, but the left-handed explosive batsman has proven that it was a mistake as he has been in a terrific form in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016. Warner is among the top run-scorers in the IPL 9.
Smith told Fox Sports News, “He’s probably best suited at the top of the order. We had our best six batters playing. Obviously Usman Khawaja had been batting particularly well and Aaron Finch, he’s been playing well over in the IPL as well.”
“We had plenty of options and I decided on Davey to bat at number three in the end. He had his opportunities to score runs as well and we just didn’t bat as well as we would have liked in the middle order to get ourselves the totals we needed to win games in India,” Smith continued.
Warner had a forgettable time with the bat in the T20 World Cup 2016, as he scored a total of 38 runs with a poor average of 9.50. But, leading the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) — who are at the moment at the top spot in the IPL 9 Points Table — Warner has been in a terrific form.
Warner is among the top-run getters in the ongoing IPL, leading the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) from the front. So far, Warner has scored as many as 567 runs in 12 matches, at an average of 56.70 and a strike rate of 155.76.
