- Monday, May 06, 2024
The hard-hitting Australian batter, who had played the T20 World Cup in the West Indies in 2010, said wickets there tend to be slower and lower while most games will be played in the morning.
By: Shubham Ghosh
AUSTRALIAN batter David Warner feels that the upcoming T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the US will not see the same gigantic scores that are being made on flat pitches in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL).
The ongoing edition of the T20 tournament has seen some teams threatening to breach the 300-run mark in 20 overs, particularly Sunrisers Hyderabad that have posted the highest totals of 287 and 277 so far. Kolkata Knight Riders have registered one total of 272.
In the match in which Hyderabad posted 287, opponents Royal Challengers Bengaluru remained in the hunt and ended up at 262, losing by just 25 runs. Hyderabad also posted a total of 266 against Delhi Capitals for which Warner plays.
There have also been instances where totals such as 210 and 220-plus have been overhauled.
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While many felt that the T20 World Cup could see an extension of the IPL’s slam-bang batting since many of the players who would play there are in this IPL, the southpaw opined the pitches in the Caribbeans will offer something to the bowlers in the showpiece global event.
The World Cup will kick off on June 1, less than a week after the IPL concludes on May 26.
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“They can be slower and they’re gonna turn a bit,” Warner, 37, told reporters, leaning on his experience in the Caribbean Premier League. He was also a member of the Australia squad that won the T20 World Cup in the UAE in 2021 and the team that finished runners-up in the 2010 edition which was also played in the Caribbeans.
“The wickets tend to get a little bit lower and slower.”
Australian batters Head and up-and-coming Jake Fraser-McGurk have scored at strike-rates of 216 and up to pummel the opposition bowlers in the IPL.
Warner, who has also played blitzkrieg knocks in the IPL in the past, has not been at his best with 167 runs for the season so far at a strike-rate of 135.77, but he said the anchor role will be key in the West Indies.
“Even when we played there in the 2010 World Cup, the pitches weren’t high-scoring,” he said.
“That’s when you did need an anchor, someone like Mike Hussey came out and scored runs for us. He had to come and sort of knock it around.”
Warner added, “It’s gonna be completely different there. Add the natural elements as well. They’re going to be predominantly day games, I think, because of the timings. So that plays a big factor.”
Hyderabad, who won the IPL in 2016 under Warner, and their batters have redefined T20 scoring with their ability to hit nearly every ball out of the park.
Twice this year the team have hit a match-record 22 sixes and at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla ground they hammered an IPL-record 125 runs in the first six overs.
“The wickets have been very good. They’ve been very flat, very compact and very high-scoring,” said Warner.
“And when you’ve got small boundaries, you’re going to see very high scores.
“Back in the day there used to be turn and you couldn’t get those scores,” he added.
(With AFP inputs)
