Aussie star David Warner, who could barely play a pull shot without wincing in pain a couple of days ago, showed utmost courage and determination to play a phenomenal knock on Day 1 of the ongoing second Ashes Test against England.
Warner missed out on reaching his hundred in the series opener at Gabba, and a similar display was portrayed in the Adelaide Test after he fell five runs short of what would have been one of his finest Test tons.
The left-handed batter entered the nineties for the second-consecutive innings at the Ashes, but in an attempt to smash the short and wide delivery from Ben Stokes, Warner founded the fielder in front of square on the off-side.
After the end of the day’s play, Warner revealed he had to take a couple of painkillers tablets before going on to bat. He said that missing from the three-figure mark hurt him more than his actual rib injury.
“I was pretty close (to missing), but unless I’ve got no leg, I’m not going to not walk out onto the field. You don’t want to miss a Test match for your country, and I’ll always put my best foot forward if I can,” said Warner as quoted by Fox Cricket.
“Having a couple of painkillers (tablets). I did have a local this morning just before I went out to bat. Probably hurt more than what the ribs are at the moment,” he added.
Although Warner started his innings quite slowly as he got off to mark on the 20th ball. The New South Wales batter said that he found it funny when he came to know upon looking at the scoreboard which read he had scored only 1 run after facing 20 balls. Warner said he was laughing at himself when Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne told him about it during the drinks break.
“I looked up, and I didn’t even realise. I was actually surprised, it was quite funny. At drinks, Uzzy and Marnus were saying you’re only on one run. I was laughing at myself, saying, ‘they’re giving us nothing’. From there, it’s about holding your bat and keeping your shape and not following the ball,” Warner revealed.
