New Delhi [India], February 17 (ANI): Australia batter Usman Khawaja defended his opening partner David Warner and stated that the left-hander will turn things around for himself.
Warner has been dismissed cheaply in the three innings he has batted so far in the Border-Gavaskar series, scoring just 26 runs. However, Khawaja who played an 81-run knock exuded confidence in his opening partner.
“Hard to tell. I have to kind of disagree with what you’re saying. He hit two fours off Ashwin last game before he got out lbw. So he was showing some aggression. It’s never easy out there, especially starting off. So I was lucky today. I got a couple to get me going. Sometimes you don’t get that and it can be very hard. Three innings is not enough for me. I think there’s still a long way to go in this Test series. I’m looking forward to what may happen. Davy’s been such a terrific player for such a long time. Every time his back is against the wall, he produces something. So, yes, we’ll see,” Khawaja said.
Khwaja mentioned that his approach was the same as the first Test and he did not make any changes to his batting having only played eight balls in the series opener in Nagpur.
“I mean, I didn’t get a chance to play the first game. Only face seven balls for the game, eight balls. So there was no real difference in plans. I just play by the feel. I play by what I think is right for the wicket when I go out. I don’t go out there with them thinking I want to play a certain way. I feel how the bowlers are trying to bowl to me and then I read the game from there. So it’s as simple as that. There’s no difference. And that’s pretty much what I did today,” the left-hander mentioned.
Talking about the team’s total being good enough given the bounce and turn offered by the pitch, he said, “Look, it’s difficult for us, it was difficult for me, but I don’t know the par score unless India bats on it, we’ll know by tomorrow. I feel like 260 is pretty good, but we’re going to have to wait and see tomorrow what India gets. Then you’ll know what a par score is because they’re obviously very good in their conditions. I think now that we have three spinners in this team, especially on that wicket, it’s going to be challenging. Just like their spinners were quite challenging. Yeah. We won’t know past quarter till tomorrow, unfortunately.”
The opening batter heaped praises on left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann stating that the bowler is a fierce competitor having captained him in the Australian domestic circuit. He added that the spinner was on the money from the beginning and will be crucial to Austalia’s chances on the second day.
“Yeah, I thought he was awesome. I was very nervous for Matthew, obviously. He’s from my home state of Queensland. I’ve captained him a lot. He’s a terrific young player, he’s a terrific young person and he’s a competitor. One thing I love about him and everyone who plays with him, he’s a competitor. He loves being in the contest. So you can see when he was out there today, he didn’t look like he would have been nervous, but you couldn’t really tell. He was on his mark straight away and it was a great start for him. He looked like he was in the game, and created a few half-chances. I’m looking forward to seeing him bowl tomorrow,” shared Khawaja.
After Indian bowlers put on a spirited display to bundle out Australia for 263, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul provided hosts with a fine start on Day 1 of the second Test of the four-match series.
At the time of Stump India’s score read 21/0 with Rohit Sharma (13*) and KL Rahul (4*) unbeaten at the crease, as India ended the day on a high.
The Indian bowlers kept the visitors under the 300-run mark with superb performances from Shami (4-60), Ravindra Jadeja (3-68) and R Ashwin (3-57).
Australia’s Peter Handscomb was the second-highest scorer for the visitors, remaining unbeaten at 72 runs (ANI)
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