Ashes 2023: ‘I’d be inclined to stick with David Warner’, says Ricky Ponting on opener’s selection debate | Cricket News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has expressed his viewpoint on the ongoing debate surrounding the selection of David Warner for the fourth Test of the Ashes 2023.
Ponting believes that the seasoned opener has proven himself enough in the past to deserve another opportunity.
During this Ashes series, Warner has accumulated 141 runs from six innings. However, his position at the top of Australia’s batting order has faced scrutiny, especially after his failures in the recent Test match against England at Headingley, where he was dismissed by his long-standing adversary Stuart Broad on both occasions.
Although Australian captain Pat Cummins has stated that the selectors will consider all possibilities when finalizing the playing XI for the crucial fourth Test, Ponting leans towards retaining Warner in the team.
“I know there’s been a lot of chat the last couple of days since the end of Headingley and it’s more the fact that it’s Broad that’s getting him out, I think. I think if it was anybody else, the noise probably wouldn’t be quite as loud, but the fact that he struggled to get through the opening spells of Broad a few times in this series again, makes it a little bit more of a worry,” Ponting said on the latest episode of The ICC Review.
“And the reason I say that is because I’ve played against teams in the past and bowlers in the past where you just know that they’ve got the wood on you and they’re on top of you and you just can’t get away from it because if I’m Ben Stokes, even if David Warner gets through the first spell of Stuart Broad, then I’ll give him a short break and I’ll bring him back again.
“When someone’s got you out 17 times, it does become as much a mental or probably more of a mental battle than it does a technical battle. But just thinking about the series, I’d be inclined to stick with David Warner,” he said.
The former captain is somewhat concerned by Warner’s form, but wants the 36-year-old to show his true fighting spirit like he showed at the WTC final and the Lord’s Test.
“I always talk about when you see guys smiling on the field, smiling for me, it’s almost a nervous reaction. You’re never happy to play and miss at one or you’re never happy to nick one to slip, but for some reason when guys are under pressure, it’s nerves that make you smile,” said Ponting.
“I’d like to see him go the other way. I’d like to see him show that real bulldog fighting spirit that he’s got. I think like he showed in the first innings of the World Test Championship, like he showed in the first innings at Lord’s where he made runs there.
I’d like to see him get back to that and if he gets back to that, I think with the way that I’ve seen him start in a couple of his innings, I honestly do feel a big score is just around the corner for him,” he added.
(With inputs from IANS)
Ponting believes that the seasoned opener has proven himself enough in the past to deserve another opportunity.
During this Ashes series, Warner has accumulated 141 runs from six innings. However, his position at the top of Australia’s batting order has faced scrutiny, especially after his failures in the recent Test match against England at Headingley, where he was dismissed by his long-standing adversary Stuart Broad on both occasions.
Although Australian captain Pat Cummins has stated that the selectors will consider all possibilities when finalizing the playing XI for the crucial fourth Test, Ponting leans towards retaining Warner in the team.
“I know there’s been a lot of chat the last couple of days since the end of Headingley and it’s more the fact that it’s Broad that’s getting him out, I think. I think if it was anybody else, the noise probably wouldn’t be quite as loud, but the fact that he struggled to get through the opening spells of Broad a few times in this series again, makes it a little bit more of a worry,” Ponting said on the latest episode of The ICC Review.
“And the reason I say that is because I’ve played against teams in the past and bowlers in the past where you just know that they’ve got the wood on you and they’re on top of you and you just can’t get away from it because if I’m Ben Stokes, even if David Warner gets through the first spell of Stuart Broad, then I’ll give him a short break and I’ll bring him back again.
“When someone’s got you out 17 times, it does become as much a mental or probably more of a mental battle than it does a technical battle. But just thinking about the series, I’d be inclined to stick with David Warner,” he said.
The former captain is somewhat concerned by Warner’s form, but wants the 36-year-old to show his true fighting spirit like he showed at the WTC final and the Lord’s Test.
“I always talk about when you see guys smiling on the field, smiling for me, it’s almost a nervous reaction. You’re never happy to play and miss at one or you’re never happy to nick one to slip, but for some reason when guys are under pressure, it’s nerves that make you smile,” said Ponting.
“I’d like to see him go the other way. I’d like to see him show that real bulldog fighting spirit that he’s got. I think like he showed in the first innings of the World Test Championship, like he showed in the first innings at Lord’s where he made runs there.
I’d like to see him get back to that and if he gets back to that, I think with the way that I’ve seen him start in a couple of his innings, I honestly do feel a big score is just around the corner for him,” he added.
(With inputs from IANS)
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