Srinagar: Ahead of highly awaited WTC Final against India, Australia batter Usman Khawaja has come out in support of struggling senior opening partner David Warner.
Warner has been struggling lately scoring just 26 runs in three innings of Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India.
“I have seen him bat in the last couple of days and, I don’t want to jinx him, but he is looking good,” Khawaja said as quoted by ICC.
“This is probably the best I have seen him look in the nets for a while. That doesn’t always correlate to runs, but if we are any chance of Davey Warner scoring runs this could be it.”
“He always plays his best when his back is against the wall too. We saw when he scored a double century in his 100th game when everyone was writing him off and telling him he was done and it was his last game and he went out and gets 200.”
“You never write off a great player, so I am expecting runs,” Khawaja signed off.
The 36-year-old Warner scored just 95 runs in five Tests at 9.5 during the 2019 Ashes tour and has struggled at times over the previous two years, recording just one century – his epic 200 on Boxing Day last summer – and 18 scores of 15 or less in 32 innings.
Despite his inconsistencies, Warner claims he has received no ultimatums or demands from team officials, including captain Pat Cummins and coach Andrew McDonald.
“I’m picked here for a series to play cricket. No one has spoken to me about any situation. I’m just here as an opening batter to continue my decade-long career,” Warner said.