"We lost it ourselves" - David Warner reflects on Australia's Test series defeat in 2017
Veteran Australian opener David Warner has lamented the Test series loss to India in 2017, stating that the visitors should have won the fourth match in Dharamshala. The left-handed batter understands it will be challenging for Australia's batters in India, but will take cues from their performances in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Australia will visit India for four Tests in February, having last won a Test series in the nation in 2004. The number-one ranked Test side came close to upstaging India in 2017 after dismantling the hosts in the first match in Pune. However, Steve Smith and co. could not close the series out, losing the second and fourth, with the third resulting in a draw.
🏻Incredible Aussie performance in Pune. So happy for Steve O'Keefe!He has toiled so hard for this👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻. @stevesmith49 amazing 100 too.
Warner reckons that curators in India will dish out turning tracks and feels it's crucial to spend as much time at the crease as possible. The 36-year-old has backed Australia's bowling attack to come good, marking out veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
As quoted by ESPNCricinfo, Warner said:
"We know we're going to prepare for, they're going to be turning wickets. Nagpur and Delhi are quite dry and Dharamsala at that time of the year, we played there and we probably should have won that Test. We lost it ourselves. There's going to be times where it's going to be challenging over there. But it's about how our batters can build and bat big like we did in Pakistan.
"I think that's going to be our greatest challenge. I think with the ball, we're going to probably do a fantastic job. We've got a world-class spinner in Nathan Lyon. We're going to have to obviously think about potentially playing two spinners. I think moving to India, it's going to be probably a batter's battle I reckon."
The left-hander, who returned to form with a blazing double hundred against South Africa in the Boxing Day Test, has struggled in India. In eight innings, the New South Wales batter has averaged 24.25 with three fifties.
"I still know what energy I can bring to the team" - David Warner
Warner quashed any retirement talk, asserting that he still has the energy and the extra desire to win Test series in India and England before calling time on his career. The veteran added:
"I still know what energy I can bring to the team. I think once I start losing that spark and energy around training and taking the mickey out of people playing some jokes here and there and pranks, I think that's when I probably know it's time. I wish you would stop telling me my age.
"I don't feel 36. I'm running faster than a lot of these youngsters. But I think the extra motivation for me is winning in India and completely winning a series in England. I've been told by the coach and the selectors that they'd like me to be there."
The four-Test series against India starts on February 9 in Nagpur.