Australia bank on IPL stars David Warner, Steve Smith to salvage pride in T20s

The harsh Indian summer is slowly giving way to winter, with the nip in the air hinting at the change of season. But the travelling Australian cricketers haven’t stopped feeling the heat. They were thrashed 4-1 by India in the ODI series and now face a daunting task in the T20 series, starting on Saturday.

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Having lost their last six T20 matches against India, the Australians are now pinning their hopes on the likes of David Warner and captain Steve Smith, considering their experience in Indian conditions, courtesy the Indian Premier League (IPL).

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“The experience of the players in IPL will be all the more relevant with the change of format. We hope to do better with guys like Steve Smith and David Warner leading the charge,” Moises Henriques, who has joined the side for the three-T20I series, said during a media interaction.

While opener Warner was one of Australia’s better performers in the ODI series, scoring a century and a half-century; Smith scored two half-centuries in five matches.

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Henriques insisted that Australians are hopeful of giving a tough fight despite the losses in ODIs.

“The guys will be embracing a new format, a new series and go for a fresh start in this first game in Ranchi. Sometimes, you need a change in mental state, change in attitude or in this case a change in format to start afresh,” he said.

Regarding his own comeback into the Australian team after the ODI series in June against England, Henriques said: “I definitely think I am good enough to play at this level. I think a lot of the opportunities that I have got in the past have been in roles different to what I play now. I feel my game has come a long way in the last two to three years but I haven’t got opportunity in that time. Every time I walk out for Australia, I don’t worry too much about what comes out of it. But rather I try to do whatever is needed for Australia to win.”