His Ashes might have spiralled downward incredibly, but David Warner has shown that in the shortest format of the game, he remains a potent force, carrying on from his Indian Premier T20 League exploits.
The Australian left-hander hit his maiden International T20I hundred against Sri Lanka on Sunday, but it must be remembered that he has seven other hundreds in the format in leagues across the world.
Warner's innings against Sri Lanka was notable for the manner in which he went about it. From starting off sedately even as Aaron Finch went bonkers at the other end, Warner switched gears as the innings progressed and took control.
Off the very first ball he faced from a spinner, Warner teased to play the switch hit, a shot he had been practicing in the nets for a long while. It sowed seeds of doubt in the spinner's mind and sure enough, later in the game, Warner unleashed the shot to fetch a boundary.
The 2019 edition of the Indian T20 League was a fine one for Warner as was the ODI World Cup in England. One common approach stood out in both of these tournaments and it came to the fore again at Adelaide Oval. In the former, Warner made 692 runs at an average of 69.2 and a very healthy strike rate of 143.86. But at the beginning of an innings, Warner was mostly circumspect.
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In the World Cup, Warner finished with 647 runs at an average of 71.88 including three hundreds and a strike rate nearly touching 90. Yet again, for someone who likes to tee off from the start, Warner was more composed, grinding out his runs in uncharacteristic fashion.
It showed in the maiden T20I ton at Adelaide too, where he - like Rohit Sharma - gradually increased his aggression during the course of the innings before a full-fledged onslaught. Before his first boundary, Warner was on 7 off 9 balls even as Finch raced to 24 in 17.
In one Kasun Rajitha over, Warner then hit two fours and a six to play catch up. When Finch reached his fifty, Warner had reached 39 in 26 balls. But by the time the skipper reached 55, Warner had caught up, interestingly playing three balls lesser than his partner. Ending up with a strike rate of 178.57 despite starting slow, Warner in his new avatar is becoming a dangerous force to reckon with; of course, if the opposition doesn't have Stuart Broad that is.
Featured image courtesy: AFP / Brenton Edwards
