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Warner's T20 approach sets up his summer

3 minute read

David Warner has gone from a crash-and-bash Twenty20 star to one of the best at constructing an innings in the format, according to Aaron Finch.

DAVID WARNER
DAVID WARNER Picture: Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images

David Warner has evolved his Twenty20 game to make him the first picked in any side, according to Australia's captain Aaron Finch.

Warner set himself up for a big summer of runs with an unbeaten 217 across the three-game whitewash of Sri Lanka, in arguably his best week of T20 cricket.

He hit his maiden century in the series opener, before two more scores above 50 put him in perfect stead for Sunday's opening clash with Pakistan.

But after shooting onto the scene as one of Australia's first T20 guns, Finch said Warner's approach had changed in recent years.

"The way he constructs an innings is totally different to when he started playing T20," said Finch, who has watched most of Warner's career from the other end.

"He's managed his innings. He's not just getting off to a flyer and then keeping on going. He's going through the gears as a T20 batter.

"Sometimes, you can get in the mode of getting in one gear and trying to keep going as hard as you can.

"The way that he structures his innings and identifies the targets that match up well to him has been crucial to that."

Warner's runs came as he entered the series under pressure after a horror Ashes campaign.

But his white-ball form has never wavered.

He was Australia's best batsman at the World Cup with three centuries, and also topped the run-scoring lists in this year's Indian Premier League with 692 and a strike rate of 143.86.

"There was definitely no issue (around his form) for me; he's the first picked in any T20 side," Finch said.

"You look at the way that when he gets runs, he wins games for his team - whether it's Australia, Hyderabad, wherever he plays.

"When he performs, the teams win and that's such a huge asset."

Warner will form a key part of Australia's T20 World Cup assault next year, with the benefit of playing on home wickets where he is most comfortable.

But, more immediately, he wants to take his confidence into a home summer which includes five Tests and he is desperate to be back in the runs.

"You always like to start the summer well," Warner said.

"I've just maintained the rage. I just go out there and back myself and play to the best of my ability.

"I'm a confident person. I don't go out there thinking I'm going to get out ... I just play the same way."

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