‘I don’t mean to bat slow’: Record-breaker Warner on his atypical batting

Those who saw David Warner ruthlessly scale IPL 2019’s batting charts may probably be wondering what’s gotten into him in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. He’s scoring runs alright, but they’re not coming in the typical Warner style. He’s cautious, he’s watchful and he’s only letting his bat do all the talking. It’s the biggest stage of cricket and it’s no surprise that the southpaw is currently the leading run-scorer in the World Cup (447 runs at 89.40) with two impressive centuries to his name already.

With his 147-ball 166 against Bangladesh on Thursday, Warner equalled Adam Gilchrist’s record of 16 ODI centuries – the third most for Australia. That’s not it. He went on to break a flurry of records:

• Warner is the first batsman with scores of 150 against 6 different opponents in ODI cricket history
• His 166 is the highest individual score of World Cup 2019 so far
• His fifth 50-run partnership with Aaron Finch is the highest of this tournament (no other pair has more than 3)
• He has taken the same number of innings (110) as Virat Kohli to reach 16 ODI hundreds

“It’s just more runs that you can miss out on,” he said after starring in Australia’s 48-run win over Bangladesh. “For me, it’s about going out there and putting my best foot forward for the team and trying to score as many runs as I can. To make up for all the runs that I’ve missed out on and for the team.”

Warner’s reintegration into the Australian side has been far from easy. His and Smith’s year-long exile threw the team into imbalance. In Warner’s absence, captain Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja played the perfect openers as Australia slowly rebuilt their team and marched towards success. His comeback meant that Khawaja had to drop down the order and that once again upset the team combination. Coming straight into the World Cup squad after missing a year of international cricket was bound to put some pressure on Warner. And it was evident in the way he started off with two of his slowest ODI fifties in Australia’s first three World Cup games.

“I don’t mean to go out there and bat slow,” he said. “I’ve tried to get a calculation, how many fielders I’ve hit in the first 10 (overs). I got frustrated against India. I got frustrated against Afghanistan. And then today, Finchy kept telling me to hang in there and bat deep and bat time. And that was in like the eighth or ninth over. Because it’s generally not my game to stick there, and I usually try and go after it a little bit. Must be a bit more maturity, I think.”

A one-year ban, mental toll, boos from the crowd on his comeback – Warner has had to endure it all. Yet, he remains Australia’s designated mercenary and their biggest weapon in this World Cup. His innings may no longer be as pleasing to the eye as they were before the ball-tampering scandal. But the confidence is unshaken, the skill even more polished than before.