An interesting thing happened during the second ODI between India and Australia when Ashwin bowled to Warner as the latter turned a right-hander to tackle the off-spinner. He was successful in hitting a boundary as a right-hander but his experiment was cut short by Ashwin’s brilliance as the off-spinner started bowling carom balls which bamboozled Warner while he was attempting a reverse sweep.
This wasn’t the first time the Australian opener had tried something like this in a match. He is known for his unorthodox techniques on the pitch.
The Reason behind Warner batting right handed
Warner’s teammate Sean Abbott revealed the reason behind him batting right-handed against Ashwin “I think that’s a testament to Ashwin’s skills, to be honest, because I think if Davey’s just going to sit there and bat left-handed and Ashwin he’s not going to miss his length, too often, and with the ball spinning so much, he’s got the one that goes the other way, the straighter one and all the variations that go along with that,” said Abbott when asked Warner’s unusual methods.
“David just thought he had to change it up. He plays golf right-handed. We obviously see how dynamic he is batting like doing his switch-hitting and stuff. So he weighed up those options.
The Plan
They actually might have spoken about it during the test match here (in March). “He’s done it before he practices it in the nets. So I was like, ‘Oh, this is different’ but Davey’s Davey, so we just let him crack on, he’s a great competitor,” said Abbott who himself staked a strong claim for a spot in the playing eleven for the World Cup with his clean hitting.
Indian batters feasted on the Indore track but going by Abbott, it was not easy facing Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja under lights. “It was a difficult batting wicket in the end, facing their spinners. They’re very skillful.
So we were going to have our work cut out for us. “Before we went out there bat we had some glimpses of some good batting, especially from Davy and I just thought Ashwin and Jadeja on that wicket there, especially Ashwin… tremendous skills spinning it both ways as a finger spinner.”
“He asked me if I was picking them and I was like, no chance, mate, so very difficult,” said Abbott whose entertaining effort comprised five sixes.
