Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar on Saturday (April 1) teased Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper David Warner by reminding him of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 Test match in Delhi when the Australian opener was speaking about his previous stint with the Delhi-based franchise in the Indian Premier League.
In February this year, Warner travelled to India for the four-match Test series and registered scores of 1, 10, and 15 from the three innings that he batted. He looked far from being comfortable against the spinners.
During the second Test in Delhi, the southpaw sustained two injuries within minutes of each other. A Mohammad Siraj ball hit Warner on his elbow, which resulted in a hairline fracture before a concussion led to him being replaced by Matthew Renshaw.
Later, Warner flew back home for rehabilitation and Travis Head took his place in the team for the third and fourth Tests.
While interacting with Gavaskar after DC’s loss at the hands of LSG, Warner, who was part of the Delhi Daredevils side before he moved to SunRisers Hyderabad, said the pitches in 2011 season were low and slow but he expects better from the tracks in Delhi in IPL 2023.
"We go back to Delhi in front of our home crowd. I know it's a batting wicket. The last time, I was there in Delhi back in 2011, it was low and slow. Now I saw a bit of green grass on that surface. There will be a bit of dew in the night. If we can get an all-round good wicket, it would be fantastic," Warner stated.
Gavaskar then said: "David last time you were there in Delhi in 2011-12? You were there last month!"
In reply, Warner said: "Yeah, I know that. That was a different pitch, it was a red ball. Let's forget that."
Notably, Delhi Capitals suffered a heavy 50-run defeat in their IPL 2023 opener against Lucknow Super Giants at Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Invited to bat first, LSG rode on opener Kyle Mayers’ whirlwind 73 off 38 balls to pile up 193/6 on the board.
In reply, the Capitals managed only 143/9 in their stipulated 20 overs. It was a listless batting performance as no DC batter returned with a decent knock. Although skipper Warner slammed a half-century (56 off 48 balls), his innings lacked intent while no other managed to cross the 30-run mark.
For the Super Giants, speedster Mark Wood starred with the ball as he ran through DC’s top-order and also cleaned up the tail to finish with the figures of 5 for 14 in four overs.
(India Today Inputs)
