Australia's experienced campaigner Usman Khawaja has responded to former opener David Warner saying that he will come out of retirement to play Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Warner offered to open again as Cameron Green got injured and Steve Smith returned to his original position at no.4 which led to search for a new opener. Warner made the comment and clarified it during the ODI series between Australia and Pakistan. Ahead of the Test series opener at Perth, Khawaja called his former opening partner "hilarious" and said that he knows very well how to create drama.
"Ah, big Davey's hilarious. He's just throwing the fishing line out there, as he does. He knows how to create drama. There's no doubt he could probably still do it, but he's gone, he had a great end last year, a great retirement. I love Davey ... He's still rocking the boat. That's Davey, that's why I love him. He loves stirring people up," Khawaja told the Wide World of Sports.
Nathan McSweeney who recently led Australia A to a series win over India A was named in the Test squad. He will open the innings alongside Khawaja.
Khawaja believes that Warner is capable of walking the talk and reversing his retirement if he gets a last-minute call from the selectors.
"If there was an SOS I'm sure Davey would be like, 'All right, if you guys really need me...' I think it was a bit of tongue-in-cheek [talk]. I think he's quite happy playing his T20 stuff and spending time with family, and he's in a good space."
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Warner's Test record against India
The 38-year-old was recently named the captain of Sydney Thunder ahead of the Men's Big Bash League (BBL) 2024-25. The southpaw's record against India in Tests is not impressive. He has scored 1,218 runs from 21 Tests at an average of 31.23 including four centuries and three fifties.
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Pitch curator gives early pitch report
Meanwhile, the head pitch curator Isaac McDonald at Perth has said that the surface will be bouncy and assist the pacers. McDonald revealed that he wants it to behave like the pitch during the last year's Test against Pakistan.
