Testament To Ashwin's Skills: Abbott On Warner Batting Right-handed Against India Spinner

Australia's cricket all-rounder Sean Abbott said that David Warner, a left-handed batsman, had to bat right-handed against R Ashwin in the second ODI because of the way the Indian was turning the Indore pitch.

India took an unbeatable lead in the three-match series on Sunday with a score of 399 for 5. Australia was never in the game. Warner (53) and Abbott (54) were the first two Australian bats to get going before they lost their fifth straight ODI.

Warner made some risky hits when he batted left-handed and right-handed. Even though he is known for his creative strokeplay, like hitting the ball backwards, he took it to a whole new level on Sunday when he sat in a right-handed stance to face Ashwin. Warner was finally bowled out by India's best spinner, but not before the "right-hand" batter swept him for a four, which made his teammates in the dugout laugh.

Abbott said when asked about Warner's unusual ways, "I think that's a testament to Ashwin's skills, to be honest. I think if Davey's just going to sit there and bat left-handed and Ashwin he's not going to miss his length too often. With the ball spinning so much, he's got the one that goes the other way, the straighter one, and all the variations that go with that." 

"David just felt like making a change." His right hand is used for golf. We can see how active he is when he hits, like when he switches gears and does other things. It was up to him to decide what to do. It's possible that they talked about it during the March test match here. 

"He does it before he works on it in the nets." I thought, "Oh, this is different," but Davey is Davey, so we let him go. He's a great competitor," said Abbott, whose clean hitting made him a good candidate for a spot in the World Cup playing eleven.

It was great for Indian bowlers to hit on the Indore track, but Abbott said it wasn't easy to face Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja at night. "In the end, it was hard to bat because of their spinners." They are very skilled. That meant we had a lot of work to do. 

"Before we went out to bat, we saw some glimpses of some good batting, especially from Davy. I also thought Ashwin and Jadeja were very good on that wicket, especially Ashwin, who is a finger spinner with tremendous skill." 

"He asked me if I was picking them, and I told him, 'No chance, mate. That would be too hard,'" Abbott said of his entertaining effort, which included five sixes. The Australians have been having a hard time getting wickets in the powerplay without Mitchell Starc, who might play in Rajkot on Wednesday. The loss on Sunday made people wonder about their shape before the World Cup.