“I would drop David Warner” - Aussie greats discuss opener’s abysmal form after Nagpur horror

Struggling Australian opener David Warner has come in for scathing criticism after yet another failure in a Test match in India. The 36-year-old, who averages in the 20s in the red-ball format in India, was dismissed for one and 10 in the Nagpur Test as Australia were thumped by an innings and 132 runs inside three days.

In a column for The West Australian, former Aussie pacer Mitchell Johnson has urged the selectors to take a big call and ax Warner for the second Test in Delhi. He wrote:

"I would drop David Warner, elevate Matthew Renshaw to open and bring Travis Head into the middle order. If it's about a horses for courses policy based on previous form in the subcontinent, why didn't that apply to Warner? That’s where it got murky for me.”

Warner has now played nine Tests in India, scoring 399 runs at an average of 22.16, with a best of 71. According to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald, Travis Head, who was shockingly dropped for the Nagpur Test, could open the batting in place of Warner in Delhi.

Earlier, Australian captain Mark Taylor backed Warner to get one more chance in the second Test. Sharing a contrasting view to that of Johnson, he told Wide World of Sports:

"David's been around long enough, and I know he's had plenty of opportunities [but] I think you've got to give him at least the next Test match to get it right.

“As Warner and Usman Khawaja found out, they bat at the top of the order and faced Ravi Ashwin with the new ball, and then four overs later got Ravi Jadeja. So it doesn’t really matter where you bat; you’re going to face the same stuff. So I would be sticking with the top two at the moment.”

While Warner was dismissed cheaply in both innings in Nagpur, Khawaja also failed, registering scores of one and five.

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“It’s a sample size of one game” - Andrew McDonald on David Warner conundrum

Even as Warner is in the firing line, Australian coach Andrew McDonald has dismissed reports of his axing. He told the media on Sunday, February 12, that there has been no discussion over the matter. McDonald commented:

“We haven’t discussed that at all. We’ll discuss the performance of the first Test match. We haven’t even got into a selection discussion.

“The benefit out of losing the game so quickly is we’ve got a little bit more think time to work through what scenarios are for us and that starts today. It’s a sample size of one game, in Nagpur.”

The second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Friday, February 17.