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NEW DELHI: Veteran opener David Warner on Friday brushed off former Australia pacer Mitchell Johnson‘s critical remarks about him determining his retirement date, stating that “everyone’s entitled to their opinions.”
Johnson had questioned Warner’s recent form in a newspaper column, casting doubt on whether he was in strong enough form to set his retirement date.He also revisited Warner’s involvement in theball-tampering incident in South Africa, reopening past wounds.
At 37 years old, Warner expressed his desire for a farewell in Sydney after the third Test against Pakistan, set to commence on January 3, 2024. The three-match Test series begins in Perth on December 14.
Despite the controversy stirred by his former teammate, Warner, who boasts 8,487 runs from 109 Tests since his debut in 2011, opted not to engage further, maintaining that everyone, even with harsh opinions, is entitled to their viewpoints.
“It wouldn’t be a summer without a headline, would it?” he asked at the launch of Fox Cricket‘s summer coverage in Parramatta on Friday, according to cricket.com.au.
“It is what it is. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinions,” the explosive opening batter said in his first comments after Johnson’s scathing attack on him.
“Moving forward, we’re looking forward to a nice Test over in the west.”
Since the summer of 2020-21, Warner has managed one Test century from 25 matches — a memorable double-hundred against South Africa in his 100th Test at the MCG in 2022.
Australian selectors have stuck to Warner though they will have to determine his replacement beyond Sydney.
Warner said he learned long ago how to deal with such criticisms.
“My parents ingrained that into me. They taught me every day to fight and work hard.
“When you go onto the world stage and you don’t realise what comes with that, it’s a lot of media, a lot of criticism but a lot of positive.”
Australia captain Pat Cummins also said that the Test team would be “fiercely protective” of the veteran opener in the face of external attacks.
“I think we protect each other a lot. We’ve been through a lot over the years, our boys Someone like Davey or Steve (Smith), I’ve played with them for a dozen years now so we’re fiercely protective of each other,” Cummins said.
“We’ve had arguably our most successful year ever. We’re going into a really exciting summer.
“There’s so many positive things around Australian cricket I think we should be talking about and we’re focusing on that (Johnson’s column).”
(With inputs from PTI)
Johnson had questioned Warner’s recent form in a newspaper column, casting doubt on whether he was in strong enough form to set his retirement date.He also revisited Warner’s involvement in theball-tampering incident in South Africa, reopening past wounds.
At 37 years old, Warner expressed his desire for a farewell in Sydney after the third Test against Pakistan, set to commence on January 3, 2024. The three-match Test series begins in Perth on December 14.
Despite the controversy stirred by his former teammate, Warner, who boasts 8,487 runs from 109 Tests since his debut in 2011, opted not to engage further, maintaining that everyone, even with harsh opinions, is entitled to their viewpoints.
“It wouldn’t be a summer without a headline, would it?” he asked at the launch of Fox Cricket‘s summer coverage in Parramatta on Friday, according to cricket.com.au.
“It is what it is. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinions,” the explosive opening batter said in his first comments after Johnson’s scathing attack on him.
“Moving forward, we’re looking forward to a nice Test over in the west.”
Since the summer of 2020-21, Warner has managed one Test century from 25 matches — a memorable double-hundred against South Africa in his 100th Test at the MCG in 2022.
Australian selectors have stuck to Warner though they will have to determine his replacement beyond Sydney.
Warner said he learned long ago how to deal with such criticisms.
“My parents ingrained that into me. They taught me every day to fight and work hard.
“When you go onto the world stage and you don’t realise what comes with that, it’s a lot of media, a lot of criticism but a lot of positive.”
Australia captain Pat Cummins also said that the Test team would be “fiercely protective” of the veteran opener in the face of external attacks.
“I think we protect each other a lot. We’ve been through a lot over the years, our boys Someone like Davey or Steve (Smith), I’ve played with them for a dozen years now so we’re fiercely protective of each other,” Cummins said.
“We’ve had arguably our most successful year ever. We’re going into a really exciting summer.
“There’s so many positive things around Australian cricket I think we should be talking about and we’re focusing on that (Johnson’s column).”
(With inputs from PTI)
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