File photo of Australia cricketer David Warner© AFP
Pakistan’s star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi is looking to spoil Australia batter David Warner’s farewell series from Test format. The highly anticipated three-match Test series will kick off on December 14 at Optus Stadium in Perth. Warner has amassed 8487 runs with a batting average of 44.4 in 109 Test appearances and has scored 25 tons and 36 half-centuries. The left-handed batter will have his last dance in the red-ball cricket and will be hoping to end it on a high note. Ahead of the series, Afridi stated that the team is looking to spoil Warner’s farewell series and said as quoted from Geo News, “We would wish him good luck but we are not hoping for a good end for David Warner in his last Test series against us.”
The left-arm fast speedster talked about the team’s lack of experience and also put emphasis on the significance of the series for the Men in Green, by reflecting on their top spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table.
“This is an important series for Pakistan as we are leading the World Test Championship’s point table at the moment. We don’t have much experience of Canberra, but I am sure this four-day match against PM XI will help us prepare well for the series against the home team starting from Perth,” Afridi added.
Warner was named in the 14-man squad for the first Test against Pakistan, starting on December 14. The veteran opener this year expressed his desire to retire from the long format after the final Test at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), the home stadium of his first-class team New South Wales.
Australia men’s selection panel chairperson George Bailey talked about the inclusion of the experienced batter and backed him to play the third Test against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), a match that the opener intends to end his long format career with but maintained that performance will be a key factor in selection for all players.
“We still think he’s in our best eleven players to win the first Test. I think Test cricket, in terms of the way that the World Test Championship points are set up, each Test is critical. There are points on the line for every game. So our focus is very much on picking the 11 that we think can do the job and obviously, there are roles within that for each individual and how that actually structures up the team as a whole; and we think David is the right person for that for this Test,” he added.
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