“He’ll be recharged and ready to go,” coach Andrew McDonald backs exhausted David Warner ahead of Border-Gavaskar Trophy

David Warner has previously said that he was exhausted after playing non-stop cricket in the summer. He played all the home Test series, against the West Indies and South Africa after the wrapping up of the T20 World Cup. Later, he played six Big Bash League matches for Sydney Thunder, scoring just 99 runs at 19.80.

But coach Andrew McDonald believes he hasn’t noticed any fatigue in Warner. He also stated Warner’s awareness of his ordinary record against India and that he’s working hard to face the spin attacks.

“There’s no doubt it was a demanding summer into BBL and it creates a challenge to shift back into Test match cricket. But we feel as though with preparation that we’ve got in mind, he’ll be recharged and ready to go. He’s really looking forward to the challenge of India and it’s been well-documented that hasn’t had the series that he would’ve liked here,” McDonald said.

Related: “Slap on our cricket system,” Misbah-ul-Haq on re-hiring Mickey Arthur

David Warner doesn’t have a good record against India

Except for a 200 against South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Warner faced trouble in scoring big runs during the home matches. But the management has backed him for the entire series to open innings against Usman Khawaja.

Warner played 34 innings against India and scored just 1148 runs at an average of 33.76. His highest score against India was a 180-run knock. He has also four centuries and three half-centuries. During their last tour in India in 2017, Warner managed just 193 runs throughout the series.

Overall, Warner has garnered 8132 runs in 184 Test innings, including 25 centuries and 34 half-centuries, with his highest being an unbeaten 335-run knock.

Both sides are preparing hard to face each other in Nagpur on February 9 for the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Recently, Australia under Pat Cummins have had a fine run, winning the Ashes, then against Pakistan, West Indies, and South Africa.

They haven’t won a Test series in India in 19 years. In their last tour in the subcontinent, Australia lost it 1-2. At the same time, India haven’t lost a series at home for over a decade, even having a record 15 consecutive series win.

In case you missed:

 “Kab mauka milega?”- Twitterati slams management for benching Prithvi Shaw for third T20I vs New Zealand

WATCH: Sachin Tendulkar honors World Cup-winning U-19 Women’s team with 5 crore check