India and Australia 3rd Test got delayed due to rain on Day 1. However, soon the clouds got clear, and the exciting encounter between the two heavyweights got off the mark. The visitors opted for a couple of changes in the team. Rohit Sharma and Navdeep Saini were picked as a replacement for injured Umesh Yadav and out of form Mayank Agarwal. But, all the eyes were set on David Warner, who was coming in the game after recovering from his hamstring injury.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. The hosts came out with a new opening pair of David Warner and Will Pucovski. The fans might have thought that they will get to watch the blitzkrieg of the southpaw. But that was not the case. The left-handed batsman got dismissed after scoring just 5 runs.
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David Warner Departs, Australia On Backfoot At SCG
There were lots of questions raised on Warner’s fitness. Some former players also reckon that the team-management should give appropriate time to southpaw for recovery. But, Justin Langer cleared his intentions to play his one of the favorite player in an important game.
Warner never looked settled and comfortable at SCG when came out to bat. He was struggling for every single run. He probably came out to bat for long. But, soon went back to the pavilion after scoring 5-odd runs and Mohammed Siraj was the bowler to strike the first wicket of the match for Team India.
The Indian pacer bowled a decent delivery angled across the left-hander, David Warner saw some width and tried to smash it for a boundary. But, the ball took a thick edge and directly went into the safe hands of Cheteshwar Pujara standing in the slip.
Later on, sports correspondent Isha Guha said that Warner never looked comfortable while batting. “incredibly uncomfortable”.
Michael Hussey also echoed in the same voice. He said that Warner never looked normal on the field while batting and running between the wicket. It seems he is not fit and that is not what Australia wanted in this situation.
“He was running through, he’s certainly laboring a little bit and it’s not the David Warner we are used to seeing. He certainly is not even close to 100 percent fit. It’s not a great sign.”
