"He plays golf right-handed" - Sean Abbott reacts to David Warner changing his batting stance in 2nd ODI vs India
Australian seamer Sean Abbott revealed that David Warner tried to be dynamic in batting right-handed during the second ODI against India at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday. The 31-year-old disclosed that Warner keeps practising the right-handed form of batting in the nets and also plays golf right-handed.
With Australia chasing an improbable 317 in 33 overs and the deck offering plenty of spin, Warner batted right-handed against Ravichandran Ashwin. While the 36-year-old slammed a quickfire half-century, Ashwin had the last laugh.
The off-spinner bowled a carrom ball, with the umpire giving him LBW. Although the replays showed that the ball hit the toe-end of the bat, Warner didn't review the decision.
Speaking at a post-match presser, Sean Abbott explained that Ravichandran Ashwin would have got in good rhythm had Warner not switched his batting stance. He elaborated:
"I think if Davey’s just going to sit there and bat left-handed, Ashwin is not going to miss his length too often. With the ball spinning so much, he’s got the one that goes the other way, the straighter one, and all the variations along with that. Davey just thought he had to change it up."
"He plays golf right-handed, we see how dynamic he is with his switch-hitting and stuff, so he weighed up those options," he added. "He’s done it before, he practices it in the nets, so it was like ‘oh this is different’, but Davey’s Davey, so we just let him crack on."
Abbott also starred with the bat on Sunday, top-scoring with 54 and reaching the landmark in 29 deliveries. His half-century and the partnership of 77 with Josh Hazlewood managed to reduce the losing margin to 99.
"I still feel like my game is in a good place" - Sean Abbott
Despite conceding 91 in 10 overs in Indore, the New South Welshman asserted his game is at the right place and that Australia are optimistic of turning things around for the World Cup.
"I feel like I've made some of the same mistakes a couple of games in a row now," Abbott stated. "But I still feel like my game is in a good place and going in the right direction, I've just got to get out there and do it, and I know a couple of other guys feel the same."
"It is an extremely good dressing room to be in; we're extremely disappointed that we've not executed as well as we would have liked but we're moving forward," he continued. "We're doing some right things moving into the World Cup, we just haven't put them out there on the park yet so I'm confident we can turn that around pretty quickly."
The Men in Yellow will look to break their five-match losing streak on Wednesday in the final ODI in Rajkot.