The Australian cricket team is slated to tour South Africa for a limited-over series, featuring ODI and T20I leg, later this month.
This tour will also be a comeback trip for their former leaders, Steve Smith and David Warner, who were involved in the scandalous ‘Sandpaper Gate’, during their Test tour to the Rainbow Nation in 2018.
Since making their comeback, the two mainstays of Aussie batting have received a lot of booing and disapproval from crowds in England.
During the World Cup game between India and Australia, skipper Virat Kohli had to urge the crowd not to boo Smith and applaud the cricketer instead.
Before the start of the series, the explosive Australian opener geared up for yet another hostile reception in the country, coming back to where the infamous scandal took place.
Warner, who delivered an emotional speech while receiving the Allan Border Medal for the third time, was asked whether it would be difficult for him to go back and play in South Africa.
“For me personally, it won’t be hard at all. I just go there and I’ve got a job to do and that’s to score runs and win games for Australia and put us in a good position. Obviously, it’s going to be very hostile,” David Warner told an Australian radio station.
However, the southpaw remained optimistic about his chances of decent reception, saying, “I copped it in England. I actually enjoyed that and played along with it. Hopefully, we’re showed some respect when we go over to Africa and the things that happen in the past stay there.”
Seamer Josh Hazlewood, included in the ODI series, also backed Smith and Warner to let their bat do the talking, instead of getting affected by the crowd.
“Steve and Dave have ticked off pretty much every box since coming back. It’s just another one of those and I don’t think it’ll faze them one bit. They probably play better when it’s like this. It’s nothing we haven’t experienced before. We’ll be fine,” commented Hazlewood.
After the ongoing T20I series against England, hosts South Africa will take on Australia for a 3-match T20I and ODI series, starting February 21 at The Wanderers.
