20 October - Bengaluru - Australia player David Warner post-match press conference
[Reporter:]
That six you hit off Haris Rauf, that hit the roof. Could you kind of describe the process behind it? And also, was it one of the most memorable sixes of your career perhaps?
[David Warner:]
No, it's just pure instinct. I knew I faced him before plenty of times and I think the line and length and the pace that he bowls, It's just one of those shots that at a ground like this, it's a small boundary. So, you know, if you get anything on it and it's in your arc, you can just go with it. That's how I've always intended to go out and about it. And yeah, he bowled it pretty much in my arc where I wanted him to bowl. So yeah, memorable sixes - no, I've hit a lot.
[Reporter:]
David, how are you feeling right now? You're off the field quite a bit and even just now you look a little bit much in pain.
[David Warner:]
How are you feeling? How's your thumb?
[Reporter:]
It's better actually. Getting there.
[David Warner:]
No, I feel alright. Just cramping. You saw me go down in Melbourne. I got upstairs, had an ice bath and then I think it's once you have an ice bath, for some reason you start cramping. So yeah, I tried, I went out there, chased the ball to the fence and then came back and just cramping in both abductors.
[Reporter:]
David, in three consecutive World Cups now, 2015, 2019 and here, you've got a big 100. Often people talk about your Test batting and your T20 batting, but how much have you enjoyed your 50-over batting and the fact that you're able to get those big scores in a period of, say, eight years?
[David Warner:]
Yeah, look, for me, I think what I've established early on in my career is that 50 overs is a long time. And having played Test cricket, you actually can take that out on there and change your gears quite easily. So, in the first 10, two new balls, you got to respect that. But then if you get away, you can get on top of it and then you can be 50 off the first 10. And then from there, you set the platform for yourself and that's the energy you feed off. And then you look to try and bat.
For me, I look to try and get to 35 overs and then from there, try and put my foot down if I'm still in. So, yeah, it's probably in the back of your mind, you've got a lot more time. And I think that's where in T20 cricket, I've learned a little bit as well to change my gears, especially in IPL. I learned a lot when I was playing for Sunrisers that you're able to have a lot more time than you think. And I think playing on these surfaces specifically, you know, if you give yourself time at the back end, you can actually score big. And that's what I felt today. We missed a little bit with the bat. We set our platform up very, very well, and we didn't execute as well as we like as a batting unit to post what I thought 400 was probably on the cards from where we were.
[Reporter:]
Four consecutive ODI 100s against Pakistan, big triple century in Test match. What is it sort of about this opposition that brings out the best in you.
[David Warner:]
I think sometimes you just match up well against certain teams and, they're going to bowl you good balls. Sometimes you're going to put away those good balls. But I think you just keep backing yourself. I don't really look at any stats or I don't look at anything of which team I have success against or not. It just so happens to be that I've scored, as you said, four consecutive hundreds, which I didn't know about until they came up. But for me, it's going out there and just doing my best every time I go out there. And I think for me, I'll probably even look at someone like Shaheen Shah and think, oh, he probably has my measure a little bit. But he doesn't.
They're the guys that you try and watch as hard as you can, left arm swinging at about 140 Ks [kph] It can be a difficult task to try and take on but yeah look I don't really have the answer to give you but just go out there and try my best against each opposition.
[Reporter:]
That's just wondering if you could talk about the way that partnership worked between you and Mitch and the way you fed off each other centuries of successive balls and he looked like he was enjoying his birthday.
[David Warner:]
Yeah, definitely. I was probably the opposite, David - Goliath. But he struck the ball so well and he was very, very unlucky. Like to get out like that, he was very unlucky. And, he's in such a great frame of mind at the moment and we love when Mitich is in that zone. And today his tempo was very, very good. We spoke about in the middle period there that if the spinners bowled a good over to us or so, just keep looking to try and hit straight. We didn't need to play, like, for me, reverse sweep. He didn't need to lap. Just keep hitting straight down the ground and we'll get that boundary ball because we're ahead of the game. And that's what we try and stay out to do. And I think today he executed very, very well and he was stiff to not keep going on today.
[Reporter:]
David, what was going through your mind when ball shot up and Usama Mir was sitting under there, underneath that catch?
[David Warner:]
Nothing to be honest. It was more slow off the wicket and from that perspective was more like, you know, I wish I just went through with the shot. But they're the ones that sometimes they're holding up on the wicket, you haven't been bowled a short ball yet. So yeah, I actually didn't even see him drop it. I was behind the big bison. So, I was actually not happy I didn't get a single as well. So, but yeah, nothing, it's how it is when you're an opening batsman. If you're going to go after it, you're probably going to give some chances.
[Reporter:]
And just Adam Zampa, he had to play through some duress, well, it looks like he's been playing through duress throughout the entire tournament, but can you, to the best of your knowledge, can you explain his situation heading to the game today?
[David Warner:]
I think it's just a back spasm. I'm not 100%.
[Reporter:]
David, you mentioned that you let the few out there, made a big score, but let the few out there. How nerve-wracking was the run chance for the team?
[David Warner:]
Look, I honestly thought 350 was probably par, given the fact that we know the history of this ground and a little bit of dew can come and get a little bit easier to bat on. The guy said there was no dew out there, so that's a positive. But always in these totals, they're going to get partnerships, they're going to come out, they're going to get some momentum going. But what happens is you see there that I know this well and truly chasing when the total up on the board and you feel that you still have to go hard, but on these venues, and when you've had experience playing here, you know if you just back yourself, you'll get those boundaries. You don't have to beat the square men, by much and it goes for a four. So, from our perspective, I think we just stayed in the contest very well. We executed well, we got wickets at the right time. And when Iftikhar came in and started teeing off, you just sort of had that feeling that one was going to go to hand because it seemed like he was just going as hard as he wanted to. And that's what you've got to try. Okay, I can just get my boundary, try and milk the rest of the over. And that's what we felt that that's all they needed was one boundary, one risk and over and then it can milk it. But fortunately, enough, we create a bit more pressure and yeah, they're going after it.
[Reporter:]
Today was a game, it was a contrasting game for leg spinners. Usama has had a relatively poor game, but Adam Zampa was very good under the lights.
What do you think he did well that got him the wickets that Mir couldn't do at the start of the game? What do you think Adam Zampa did well, better than Usama Mir?
[David Warner:]
I think you've got two different kinds of bowlers, don't you? So, one shorter than the other. So, he got a lot more skid. I think with Usama, he comes over top a little bit, gets a little bit more drift and a bit more bounce. So, they're two different types of bowlers. So, I think with Zam, see this bowl stump to stump. Unfortunately for Usama, he also had a left-hander in there for most of the inning. So, it's not easy as a leg-spinner to keep trying to bowl to a left-hander. And I felt like he held his length pretty well, to be honest. And when you're none for 150 or 200, it's very challenging as a bowler. So, I wouldn't discredit the way that he bowled. And Zam's just executed as well as he did so far in the tournament.
[Reporter:]
Marcus Stoinis has got a couple of crucial wickets tonight and also did some good things in the field. Can you just talk us through what you thought of his game tonight and how important is it for the sixth bowl, I guess, to be getting wickets for Australia?
[David Warner:]
Yeah, look, it's good to see Stoinis charge in like he did and bowl the ball. And, you know, he knows India well. He knows these grounds very well. He knows what he has to do. And when you've got someone up your sleeve that can do that, it helps a lot. And, you know, he knew exactly what he was trying to do. You saw he didn't really give the offside away much, backed himself with the short, there were short boundaries, but he backed himself in his skills to bowl through sort of the, between shoulders and head high and force that extra pace and try and speed them up a little bit. So, he executed very well.
I know Babar played a very nice shot off him, which he was frustrated about, but it's just great to have the skill that he has with the bat and ball.
[Reporter:]
Going back to that six off Haris earlier. We saw you working on that shot yesterday at training and also your right-handed batting. Do you have a name for that sort of slog scoop, sweep six that you play so well?
[David Warner:]
I don't know. Not sure. I think the last game, the one I hit went over square leg. It wasn't supposed to go there. Now, I won't be naming any of those shots, but if you actually watch my net, I nicked off about 20 times. So, I wasn't actually pleased with my net yesterday, but I batted for two hours, which is very rare day for a game.
[Reporter:]
You spoke about Mitch Marsh and the way he was batting, but when he got to his 100, you celebrated it almost more than you celebrated your own 100. What makes him so popular and what was that like for you in that moment?
[David Warner:]
Look, we love each other's success. You should be happy for your teammate. I know he missed out on one in Africa and he's been playing really, really well of late. So yeah, I'm just so happy for him at the top of the order there, coming out and playing the way he is. But to execute that and get 100 is awesome. And that's what you do for your teammates. You'd always go into bat for him and I was just so ecstatic for him. You know, he's a great man to have around the change room. He's the life of the party, brings out the best in everyone and he's always a character and that's what you need in teams and in these back up against the wall games, you need that. It was awesome for him to come out today. On his birthday as well, he said to me today that he hasn't really scored any runs on his birthday so he's happy about that. But yeah, I think tonight's Indian tradition, cake in the face, I think.