David Warner burst on to the scene as a maverick made for T20 cricket. As he runs the last lap of his career, which has seen him become a multiformat great, he took out time from his busy schedule with the Delhi Capitals to dwell on several aspects of the game.Excerpts from the conversation:
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You started as a T20 specialist with IPL in 2009. How much has the format evolved?
It’s become a serious business. Earlier, when we played IPL, there were a lot of parties and a lot of vibes around it. When I first started in Australia, we had celebrities playing in our games, like people that didn’t play cricket and like we just thought it was this hit and giggle kind of stuff. For the sake of our sport, we got to make sure that we’ve got a lot of kids still trying to play all three forms of the game because that’s what’s important. We just don’t want T20 cricket just being the ultimate.
Do you think the trappings of T20 cricket make it tough to become an all-format player now?
It’s a mindset thing. It’s about how much you want it. The biggest issue today is that when you play for countries like Australia, England and India, you are well remunerated from your central contracts. So, we can keep playing red-ball cricket. Other countries that don’t have that privilege, players go and freelance in T20 tournaments to earn very, very good money. I tell people if you want to play the longer form, go about it in the way that you need to. And that showcases if you’re a great of the game.
What kind of conversations do you have with the youngsters in IPL?
You just let them be. If they want to have a chat with you, they’ll always have that conversation, but I think it’s about me being me around them being themselves. Here, they really respect the seniors. But I love it when the guys give me crap. I love it when they’re, you know, playing games with me and like they’re pushing me around and they’re saying things. We are all here to do one thing. That’s to be the best cricketer that we can be for our team. So, for me it’s important that we’re having fun and that they are enjoying the environment.
How much of T20 is driven by perceptions and data like strike-rate?
I think we overanalyze T20 cricket. You have people who open the batting for their team at home and then come to the IPL and are batting at five or six. If you specifically just think ‘I am just going to face 15 balls and try and hit 10 sixes’, like that’s not easy to do all the time. It might come off three out of 10 times. But there is a lot of moneyball theory. A lot of it is stats-driven. I’ll give you an example. If an offspinner bowls to me and I’ve got a right-handed batter at the other end, why would I try and take down an off spinner? There are these other things that people don’t factor in like the game scenario. If you lose a wicket, okay, the next two overs, you’re not trying to hit the ball out of the park. You are trying to be smart. I haven’t sat down with all these people who do all these things. But they are getting paid to do their job and if they don’t do it well enough, then, then don’t hang around. (laughs).
You are also an all-format world champion. Can you talk about the Australian winning mentality and how you share that with the Capitals who are struggling for two seasons?
You don’t talk too much about what happens. You just go out there and back yourself like a batsman. The more you go into your shell, the less you are going to score runs. Always keep moving forward. You don’t mean to miss out on a couple of games in a row. You will get out, drop some catches, get hit for fours and sixes. But it’s how you respond and how you stick together as a team. At Capitals too, we stick together all the time. We are not happy where we are on the table, but we’re happy where we are with our preparation. We’re happy with how we are going into the game. It’s just the execution part.
David Warner (AP Photo)
Having quit the other formats recently, has prepping for the T20 World Cup become easier mentally?
Most definitely. What’s best for our Australian team is that we’re just going out and playing with freedom. We’ve got so much power in our lineup. So, we go out there and just play our shots. You’re not worried. If you fear getting out, you are going to get out.
Being a successful three-format player, how important is recovery as you grow as a player?
For me, if I am playing 35-40 games a year (including the 14-17 games in IPL), I am probably only hitting balls at training maximum 50-60 times a year. I don’t overhit, but I’ve done the hard work. I’ve batted, I’ve played for over 15 years, so I know what I have to do. So, for me it’s about recovery. I like running and gym. It’s very hard to keep up when you are doing everything. The most important thing is making sure that your mind is switched on. You don’t want to be exhausted. I don’t like training before a game. The day before a game, I’ll rest, go to the gym, go on the treadmill, get in the pool, steam sauna, switch on. I’ll just get some throw downs and stuff just to hit the ball out of the middle.
The chock-a-block scheduling takes a toll on professional cricketers. How important is it to play a sport beyond cricket?
It’s super important to have something away from the game. You can’t just have what we call these cricket-ball sandwiches. You can’t just keep hitting cricket balls. You have to let your mind take a break from what you do as a job. You don’t see people working seven days a week. It’s not possible. You need to take your mind away from the game, go have fun, spend time with your family, have picnics, go play some golf. Get into gaming or do whatever you do to relax and switch off.