Mitchell Johnson believes his controversial opinion on David Warner is “still valid” as the Australian opener struck an impressive century before departing for a duck in the second innings against Pakistan.
Johnson’s initial critique of Warner for the West Australian dominated the headlines in the lead-up to the first Test, but the latter delivered an emphatic response with a knock of 164.
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Warner celebrated his century by putting his hand to his mouth, a gesture he did not aim at anyone in particular but to those who “write stories about me and trying to use headlines to get headlines.”
In Johnson’s latest column, he highlighted how Warner thrives when under siege from the outside world.
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“On day one of the first Test against Pakistan Warner rode his luck early on — and it could have gone either way — and you take that and he went on to make 164,” Johnson wrote for the West Australian.
“He did what he was paid to do in the first innings before Saturday’s duck in the second innings.
“Warner may have denied he cares about criticism of his form, but it definitely does drive him as shown in his performance in the first innings.
“That sort of atmosphere is something Warner revels in.”
However, Johnson doubled down on his initial verdict on Warner, with the latter’s century not enough to alter his thinking.
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“I think my opinion in this column a couple of weeks ago is still valid,” Johnson said.
“He hadn’t scored runs in about three years apart from the double century last summer.
“Another point made was that a soft summer like this, with Australia expected to comfortably beat Pakistan and the West Indies, was the perfect time to look at blooding some new players into an ageing team.
“They could have given some new guys some really good time out in the middle this summer and backed them in. That’s going to be much harder across the next two summers when India and England visit for five-Test series.”
Meanwhile, Australia will be nervously sweating on the fitness of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, especially the latter.
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Labuschagne required medical attention on the field after he copped several stinging blows to his hand and arm and is expected to undergo scans on the little finger of his right hand before play resumes.
Josh Hazlewood told The Daily Telegraph Labuschagne spent an extended period with medical staff after suffering his injury on Saturday.
“Yeah he was just with the doc and physio for the last sort of hour just chatting through it and doing a few tests obviously on the finger,” Hazlewood said.
“I dare say there might be a scan tonight or tomorrow morning and we’ll know more, so pretty sore I think.”
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