Former Australian speedster Mitchell Johnson has doubled down on his criticism of David Warner despite the veteran opener starting his farewell Test series with a century. Johnson observed that the left-hander managed to only ride his luck in the 1st innings of the ongoing Test against Pakistan in Perth.
A week after Johnson targeting Warner in his column for The West Australian, the latter blasted a hundred on day 1 of the 1st Test against Pakistan. After scoring the hundred, Warner said at the post-day play's press conference that the gesture on the field was for his critics. However, he was out for a duck in the 2nd innings.
In his latest column for The West Australian, the Queenslander asserted that his criticism remains valid since Warner has displayed consistency in the last 3 years and wasn't surprised to see the innings he produced in Perth.
"I think my opinion in this column a couple of weeks ago is still valid. He hadn't scored runs in about three years apart from the double century last summer. David Warner's century on the first day of the Australian Test summer was no great surprise in some ways. There was a big media spotlight on Warner and his form and he seems to be at his most motivated when backed into a corner and he generally saves his best for home soil. On day one Warner rode his luck early on — and it could have gone either way — and you take that and he went on to make 164."
"They could have given some new guys some really good time out in the middle" - Mitchell Johnson
Johnson also went on to point out Australia's failure to blood any youngster in the 1st Test against Pakistan, especially with high-profile Test series in the next two home summers. He added:
"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 are currently in a pole position to win the Test, having set 450 as the target for Pakistan on day 4.
