Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

'The Indian top-order is playing great cricket at the moment'

January 19, 2016 17:10 IST

India's Rohit Sharma celebrates his century in the first ODI against Australia in Perth

IMAGE: India's Rohit Sharma celebrates his century in the first ODI against Australia in Perth. Photograph: Paul Kane/Getty Images

David Warner has said that the Indian top-order is in great shape, but chasing 300 hasn't been too tough so far in this series. 

"The Indian top-order is playing great cricket, they're playing fantastic at the moment. Rohit Sharma is in probably the form of his career. He's a very good white ball player. Virat's obviously is a very good player. He sort of is the rock in the middle. 

"Then obviously, you've got Ajinkya Rahane who comes in and he's capable of playing those big shots. Credit to him, he's worked hard in the last 12 months. I've seen him evolve through the IPL and trying to rotate the strike and clear the ropes.

"That's fantastic from an Indian point of view. But at the end of the day, so far, 300 hasn't been enough so, we have to keep being on top of our game to chase down the good totals that India are posting," said.  

'Virat's obviously is a very good player'

India's Virat Kohli bats during the first ODI against Australia

IMAGE: India's Virat Kohli bats during the first ODI against Australia. Photograph: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Hit all over the park in the series so far, the struggling Indian bowlers have the sympathy of marauding the Australian opener, who feels the the bowlers' job has become tough due to flat wickets produced for one-day cricket these days. 

Indian batsmen did exceedingly well in all three ODIs, putting up 300-plus targets but the bowlers could not defend any of them giving Australia an unassailable lead of 3-0 in the five-match series. 

"In any kind of cricket, all you want is early wickets. I think One-day cricket now is being played along the lines of Test cricket in the first 10 overs, then they will look to accelerate in the middle part and obviously look to finish it off.

"It's quite challenging for the opening bowlers," Warner said ahead of the fourth ODI in Canberra.

'We've seen totals of 350 in India being chased down as well'

Shaun Marsh (left) sits with David Warner during an Australian nets session

IMAGE: Shaun Marsh (left) sits with David Warner during an Australian nets session. Photograph: Michael Dodge/Getty Images

"They've got to bowl good lines and lengths. Given, the flat wickets around the world in ODI cricket, you just got to dry the runs up and create the pressure.

"It's very hard when the ball's not swinging in these conditions. It's getting tougher for the bowling unit, but as a batting department, it's fantastic for us if we can keep playing the way we play and keep posting big totals," the southpaw said. 

When asked if he knows where the Indian team is failing, the swashbuckling opener replied, "I am hoping that MS Dhoni can relay that message to his own team. I'm not going to relay that message." 

"At the end of the day, as I said, we've got to keep chasing or defending what we can. I don't have the answer, as we're playing great cricket. As everyone's talking that 300 is now the new 250, we've seen totals of 350 in India being chased down as well."

Warner had missed the last two matches owing to paternity leave, and while he was away for the birth of his second daughter, George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell carried the team past the victory lines in Brisbane and Melbourne, respectively.

© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.