Former Australian captain Ian Chappell has praised opening batsman David Warner’s style of play ahead of the veteran’s final Test against Pakistan, which begins on 3 January at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Warner, 37, hit 164 in the first Test in Perth, helping the hosts take a 1-0 series lead.
Despite the southpaw having a somewhat quiet second Test, Australia won to establish an unassailable 2-0 lead with one game remaining.
In an interview with World Wide Sports ahead of Warner’s Test farewell, Chappell dismissed the swashbuckling opener’s all-time ranking, instead focusing on Warner’s unrivaled record.
Chappell was particularly pleased with Warner’s aggressive attitude at the top of the order, even when he was running out of runs
If you’re an opener, if you miss once or twice, it’s always mate, perhaps you should slow down a little. Rankings, in my opinion, are a load of could the guy play? He could play the bloody oath.
Was he one of the more talented players? Sure. What was his position? “Who knows and cares?” Chappell said.
In my experience, very few players in the Australian Test squad have had the talent and bravery to play aggressively against the new ball and succeed.
“I don’t think many people realize how brave it is because you’ll always get someone telling you how to play when you fail – no matter where you bat,” Chappell continued.
Warner is Australia’s fifth-highest Test run-scorer, with 8,695 runs at an average of 44.58 and 26 hundreds in 111 appearances.
While addressing the media ahead of his farewell Test, the seasoned hitter also confirmed his ODI retirement.
The sandpaper episode in South Africa has influenced many people’s views – Ian Chappell
Ian Chapell also feels that the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town in 2018 turned many people against David Warner.
Warner, along with Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, was primarily responsible for one of the most heinous incidents in Australian cricket history, which resulted in harsh punishments.
The sandpaper episode in South Africa has colored many people’s ideas and turned many people against David, but if anyone believes there were just three persons engaged in that sandpaper nonsense, they believe in the Easter Bunny and Father Christmas,” Chappell added.
David, like all of us, has made errors, but he accepts responsibility for them. He’s continuing to wow people by coming out and running when they think he’s finished, he added.
Before his first Test century, Warner had only reached the three-figure mark once in his previous 25 Test appearances.
With his selection in the Test squad a heated subject in recent weeks, the champion hitter even acknowledged considering retiring from the sport after the second Ashes 2023 Test.
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