Australia vs Pakistan 2019: David Warner and Joe Burns praise each other after successful reunion
A magnificent 222-run opening stand gave Australia a perfect start against Pakistan on day two of the Brisbane Test. Openers David Warner and Joe Burns batted for more than 60 overs to keep a young Pakistan pace attack at bay. Post the day’s efforts that saw Australia score 312 runs for the loss of only Burns’ wicket, both openers heaped praise on each other’s herculean efforts.
Reunited after more than three years, Warner revealed the comfort level he shared with Burns at the top-order and tagged it as a unique relationship. Speaking to the reporters at the end of the day, Warner said:
"Not just out there but at training we've got a unique relationship, he's the rare unit, just to clarify that we're good friends, always keep in touch when we're not playing with each other. We enjoy batting together. it's awesome to come out here and do that today."
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Burns missed his century by just three runs when he tried to sweep a Yasir Shah-delivery and was bowled round his stumps. In the Canberra Test in February earlier this year, Burns made a fluent 180 against Sri Lanka but his lack of consistency couldn't help him cement his spot. Warner went nostalgic pairing up with Burns again and revealed how his opening partner had gone through his share of ups-and-downs to earn the baggy green again and hopefully for a longer duration. He said:
"He's worked his backside off to get here and be here again… I'm just trying to remember back to Sri Lanka. I think I threw the toys off the cot a lot as well. That was a challenging series for a lot of us. But I think as I alluded to before, the success we've had together, especially here at home, has been fantastic. As Joe said before, we just have this energy about us when we're out there. We communicate a lot when we're out there, even though we probably wouldn't want to talk about it out there.”
Joe Burns echoed his partner’s words and thought that the left-right combination was a big factor working in their favour while opening the batting again. He went to the lengths of tagging this pair as ‘the beauty and the beast’, with his destructive partner being the beast. A satisfied Burns said:
"I'm the beauty, he's the beast… I think the left-hand-right-hand certainly helps. I've always said batting with Dave is really easy. You get down the non-striker's end, you look up and the scoreboard's ticking along. There's no pressure to score.”
In the 2016 tour of Sri Lanka, Burns had managed only 34 runs in four innings and was eventually dropped only to return to fill the vacant spot left by Warner and Cameron Bancroft earlier this year.