Myself and Rohit responsible for Smith and Kohli’s greatness, jokes David Warner
David Warner, in an Instagram chat with Rohit Sharma, joked how openers like himself and the Mumbaikar, who usually take the shine off the ball, were responsible for making life easier for Smith and Kohli to pile on the runs. The duo further shared their experiences of opening the batting.
Having already mastered the art of batting in his decade-long cricketing career that has seen him become of the modern-day greats, David Warner, during this lockdown, has upped his game off the field and has become a master entertainer, often indulging in tik-toks and chats with fellow cricketers. On Friday, the Aussie opener interacted on Instagram with the ever-humorous Rohit Sharma and unsurprisingly, the chatter between the two oversaw a lot of jokes - including many about their own careers.
Speaking about the art of opening the batting - and how the difficulty of it is often underestimated - Warner joked how batsmen himself and Rohit, who are slapped with the responsibility of negating the tricky first hour against the new ball, are responsible for Steve Smith and Virat Kohli becoming great batsmen, as batting becomes a lot easier by the time the latter duo make their way to the crease.
"People say Kohli and Smith are the best in the world. But we make Smith and Kohli because we take the shine off the ball. We have got an important job as openers,” Warner told Rohit in an Instagram chat on Friday.
Widely regarded as the two best openers in white-ball cricket at the moment, Warner and Rohit have formed formidable partnerships with Aaron Finch and Shikhar Dhawan respectively for their national sides and the duo recalled funny instances where their partners left them in the firing line, helpless. Rohit revealed how Dhawan, during the 2013 Champions Trophy, asked him to take the strike against the lethal duo of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, while Warner spoke about how Finch always asks him to face left-arm bowlers.
"In 2013, my second game as an opener in the Champions Trophy. I told Shikhar we are playing against South Africa, I've never faced Morne Morkel or Dale Steyn with the new ball so you have to take strike.
"He says no, you are more experienced, this is my first tour here and you should take strike. Here is an opener who did not want to take strike. And I could not even see the first three balls from Morkel. I did not expect that much pace or bounce,” Rohit revealed.
"Finchy tells me that against left handers I have to open because he doesn't want the ball coming into him. But I also don't want the ball going away from me!,” said Warner, recollecting tales of opening the batting with his Victorian partner.