After already being burdened by a dearth of runs, David Warner has more worries to deal with following a brutal stay at the crease in Delhi on Friday.
The embattled Australian opener was the target of a vicious Mohammed Siraj spell early in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, copping a hit to his unprotected left elbow and another to his helmet.
His timing was off, he played and missed and he took 21 deliveries to get off the mark, finally nabbing two runs while jerkily running the ball to third man.
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He lost his wicket for 15 when he feathered a beautiful Mohammad Shami delivery through to gloveman Srikar Bharat in the 16th over.
Warner then played no part in the field as India, after bowling out Australia for 263, withstood nine overs to progress to stumps on day one at 0-21.
Battered by the hits to his elbow and helmet, the 36-year-old Warner was not feeling well enough to head back out late in the day.
“The medical staff will have to assess (Warner) tomorrow,” Usman Khawaja said at stumps.
“He is a little bit weary at the moment.
“He got a knock to the arm and then the head. I think the head made him a little bit weary at the moment, and couldn’t come out to field.
“The staff will have to figure out what happens from here.”
Warner’s 15 followed scores of one and 10 in the first Test in Nagpur, in which the Australians lost by an innings and 132 runs.
The left-hander now has the lowest average out of those who’ve opened in 10 or more Tests in India.
He’s also only compiled 607 runs at 26.39, and reached 50 just three times, in 24 Test innings since the start of 2022.
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It’s feasible that Warner, despite having 103 Test caps and more than 8000 runs, was only retained for the Delhi match because of the unavailability of Cameron Green. The absence of the young all-rounder, caused by a recovering broken finger, has left Australia thin in its batting stocks.
Allan Border gave a bleak assessment of Warner’s innings in Delhi.
“David Warner just looked as though he was a yard behind the ball, didn’t he, the way the feet were moving?” Border said on the Fox Cricket broadcast.
“There were some good deliveries bowled.
“He’s looked better at the top of the order against quality bowling.
“He’s just really struggling at the moment to pick the ball up, and the feet aren’t moving nearly as well as they used to. Whether that’s a permanent sort of problem or something you can get over quickly, (I’m not sure).”
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