David Warner failed to make a mark with the bat in Australia’s opening Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia in Nagpur last week.
The southpaw returned with scores of 1 and 10 across the two innings as the visitors suffered an innings and 132-run defeat to go 1-0 down in the four-Test series.
While questions are being raised over Warner’s place in the playing XI given his prolonged failures in the subcontinent conditions, Australia skipper Pat Cummins backed the veteran opener to play in the second Test, starting February 17 in Delhi.
Cummins cited the example of Warner’s double ton in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa in December 2022 to say that the left-hander is pretty hard to bowl to.
"You saw this year at the Boxing Day Test when he puts pressure back on the opposition he's pretty hard to bowl to. You don't get as many good balls, so he knows that. I'm sure that'd be part of his plan," Cummins told reporters on the eve of the second Test.
"He has been batting really well here. Even in the lead-up I thought he was fantastic. I know there's a lot of talk about spin bowling through the middle, but with that new ball it's sometimes the hardest time to bat as well," he added.
Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin spun a web around Australia with the ball to script India’s emphatic victory in Nagpur.
Jadeja ran through the Australian batting line-up in the first innings, picking a five-wicket haul (5-47) to bundle out the visitors for a paltry 177.
After India took a massive first-innings lead of 223 runs, it was Ashwin’s turn to demolish the Aussies. The veteran off-spinner returned with the figures of 5 for 37 in his 12 overs as the hosts bowl out the tourists for a mere 91 to wrap the match inside three days.
However, the Australian captain is hopeful of a turnaround on another spin-friendly pitch in Delhi.
"I think the planning has been really good and now it's about going out there and doing it and at times that might be being brave enough to take a calculated risk," Cummins said. "They've been really good, they're all really strong in their plans, trained really well, so we will see how we go."
After the humiliating defeat in Nagpur, Australia are expected to make changes to their playing XI, with spinner Matthew Kuhnemann, returning pacer Mitchell Starc and all-rounder Cameron Green competing for a spot in the side.
"Having a right-hander helps and (Green) providing our fifth bowling option also helps, he's a big player," Cummins said.
"He's still coming back from that injury, he's only had a couple of sessions where he's catching with a hard ball. We will see how he pulls up."
On debut in Nagpur, Victoria off-spinner Todd Murphy returned with a seven-wicket haul and Cummins again challenged his spinners to make best of the conditions.
"Even the last game we saw a lot of around-the-wicket bowling where in Australia it's mainly over the wicket bowling," said Cummins.
"It's a bit of an adjustment, but in some ways it doesn't get any better. You have a wicket there that's spinning, you can show how good you are."
(With AFP Inputs)
