Australian opener Warner eyes World T20 title next year

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London, Aug 30 (IANS) Swashbuckling opener David Warner asserted on Sunday that the Australians will aim to capture the only title missing from their impressive trophy cabinet when they travel to India for the World Twenty20 next year.

The Australians have dominated Tests and one-day cricket, and are the most successful team at the 50-over World Cup, winning the title five times.

But they have repeatedly fallen short in the battle for T20 supremacy and are yet to win the World Twenty20 crown in the five editions of the tournament so far dating back to 2007.

Warner, however, feels that the men from Down Under will have a much better chance in the 2016 edition since several Australian players are familiar with the conditions and big game atmosphere in India due to their involvement in the Indian Premier League.

“I think going to India, there’s no excuse for conditions. All the players have played there before (and) played IPL there. Whatever team is selected that will be the right team for those conditions,” Warner was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.

“I really do think this could be one of our best chances to win the Twenty20 World Cup,” he added. “We’ve probably played more (in India) than we have at home in the Twenty20 format.”

Warner — one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket — also felt that a lack of continuity between players is to blame for Australia’s inability to deal with the unpredictable nature of the T20 format.

“It’s like anything — it’s playing consistent cricket with the same team. When you work a lot with each other over a certain period of time, you can establish and work it out,” he said.

“Leading into the World Cup for the one-dayers for example, we had a team that didn’t really change as much and you do almost play the same team in the Twenty20s but (you’re not together for the same amount of time). We play one T20 every blue moon in Australia,” the 28-year-old left-hander added.

“It’s quite challenging for us to go into a group and go ‘here you go, play this tournament’. This is big. You have to work out what your chemistry is in the format itself.”


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