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[Saba Sports News] Mitchell Johnson’s onslaught on David Warner is not stopping at sooner. Although Warner scored a century in the opening Test of the ongoing series versus Pakistan, Johnson did not seem very impressed with it, reinforcing his critique.
For the unversed, Johnson had expressed his displeasure over Warner getting to choose his retirement series. The former Australia fast-bowler even claimed that Warner has not owned up to his fault in the Sandpapergate.
Johnson later on revealed that his ire on Warner was also due to a “pretty bad” text message he received from the latter, which came as a response to his attack on Candice Warner for defending her husband.
Warner scored 164 runs in the first innings of the Perth Test. He got dismissed for a duck in the next innings. Johnson talked about a lucky reprieve Warner got in the midst of his century-knock, also mentioning that the media pressure on the southpaw in what is his last Test series played a role in bringing the best out of him.
“I think my opinion in this column a couple of weeks ago is still valid. He hadn’t scored runs in about three years apart from the double century last summer. David Warner’s century on the first day of the Australian Test summer was no great surprise in some ways. There was a big media spotlight on Warner and his form and he seems to be at his most motivated when backed into a corner and he generally saves his best for home soil. On day one Warner rode his luck early on — and it could have gone either way — and you take that and he went on to make 164,” Johnson wrote in his column for The West Australian.
Johnson made another point, opining that Australia could have picked a youngster in Warner’s place as they are facing weaker opponents in the form Pakistan and the West Indies in the ongoing summer.
“Another point made was that a soft summer like this, with Australia expected to comfortably beat Pakistan and the West Indies, was the perfect time to look at blooding some new players into an ageing team. They could have given some new guys some really good time out in the middle this summer and backed them in. That’s going to be much harder across the next two summers when India and England visit for five-Test series,” Johnson added.