David Warner: In the form of his life

David Warner is having a tremendous summer

Just over 8 months ago, David Warner was the villain. He had punched Joe Root in the face, and was going through a mediocre run with the bat as well. But, cricket, as they say, is funny game. 8 months on, and Warner finds himself at the forefront of an Aussie resurrection. A resurrection that has seen them win an Ashes series 5-0, and beat the world’s no.1 Test team in their own backyard.

Warner arrived in South Africa on the back of a successful Ashes series, but his overseas Test record was dismal. He hadn’t crossed 75 in an away Test, and averaged a mediocre 25 on foreign shores.

Warner had started his career with a reputation of a basher in the shorter forms of the game, and made a dream international debut with a quickfire 89 in a T20 against South Africa at the MCG. However in recent years, he had played some very good Test knocks, like the 69 ball hundred against India at Perth, and the century against New Zealand at Hobart, where he carried his bat through the innings on a treacherous pitch. However, such Test innings were few and far between and only came Down Under.

Through 2013, Warner struggled in Tests. Be it the series in India, where he was undone by spin, or the Ashes in England where he was troubled by off-field issues. But, Warner came back with a bang in the home Ashes series. Centuries at the Gabba and Perth were instrumental in setting up Australian victories, en route to a 5-0 series whitewash.

So, what has changed in Warner? According to the man himself, he is much more assured and confident in his own abilities right now, and he is going through a purple patch. The recent series against South Africa was a prime example of how devastating Warner can be. 3 centuries and 2 fifties, all scored at a brisk pace, ensured that Australia secured a memorable series victory.

With Warner, it is not just about the number of runs that he scores. It is about how he scores them, and how quickly he scores them. Much like what Virender Sehwag was at his prime, a big innings from Warner demoralises the opposition. It pins the opposition down to submission. Warner has the typical Aussie swagger about him, which makes for compulsive viewing.

As Warner has shown time and again in the past 3-4 months, the past is well and truly behind him now, and along with Chris Rogers, he is providing a throw-back to the Hayden-Langer days, where two left handers completely take the game away from the opposition within the blink of an eye.

But, there is still huge scope for improvement on Warner’s part. As much as many sub-continental batsmen have struggled on fast, bouncy pitches outside Asia, Warner has had his troubles facing spin. He tends to get caught in the crease too often, and that brings about his downfall. The likes of Hayden were also troubled in the initial phase of their career, but came out of it all guns blazing against spin.

Warner needs to take the same aggressive approach against spin that he adopts against the pacemen. Far too often, one sees Warner getting bogged down by quality spin bowling. And that is an issue that he will have to reflect seriously upon.

For someone so free-spirited on the cricket field, it is inexplicable that he gets tied down, but Warner allows that to happen. He allowed R Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja to dictate terms to him in India, and it was much the same with Graeme Swann in the Ashes series that was held in England.

Spin is probably the biggest concern for Warner, but it is so because it seems as though he has developed a mental block of sorts against spinners. Warner must realise that spinners least like it, when they are dictated terms against, and with his calibre and pedigree, he must be able to dictate terms against spin.

Warner is a class act. Apart from the runs he scores with the bat, he saves a number of them, with his agility in the field, and is a prized asset for any captain to have.

For David Warner, the glory days have just begun. But, as with many an Aussie batsman prior to him, e has the final frontier, the sub-continent and its spinners, left to conquer.