'Nervous' David Warner clubs 85 on IPL return to give Australian selectors a headache

David Warner was a bundle of nerves upon his Indian Premier League return but it did not show, with the suspended batsman blasting 85 for Sunrisers Hyderabad to make an emphatic World Cup statement.

His form is set to create a headache for Australia’s selectors after Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja helped complete a venue-record ODI chase of 285 in Sharjah just hours after Warner’s eye-catching Twenty20 effort.

The incumbent openers put on a 209-run stand, having shared a 193-run partnership earlier this month in India that ignited the team’s resurgence as a World Cup contender.

Warner was expected to reunite at the top of the order with Finch at the World Cup but that discussion has been complicated by the form of Khawaja. Settling on which two members of the current 15-man squad should be axed to accommodate Warner and Steve Smith’s return will also prove incredibly tough.

“I really hope Davey and Steve have a fantastic IPL in prep [for the World Cup],” Nathan Lyon said. “That’s just going to cause massive headaches for our selectors … they’re obviously world-class players. It’s a great problem .. we’ve got enough players to be adaptable to whatever conditions and whatever scenarios are thrown at us.”

Selectors meet in early April to pick the World Cup squad. Chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns described the IPL as a “good test” for Warner and Steve Smith to gauge their condition after a year in exile.

Warner, in his biggest cricketing test since the Cape Town cheating scandal, showed few signs of rust in a 53-ball blitz that gave a clear signal of intent. The hard-hitting opener scored freely and quickly against a Kolkata Knight Riders attack featuring star spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine.

“[Normally] I am pretty chirpy in the change room [before a game],” Warner told Star Sports in Kolkata. “I didn’t really say much [before this game]. I was that nervous, I went to the toilet a couple of times.”

Warner helped Hyderabad to a total of 181-3, which Kolkata overhauled in the final over thanks to Andre Russell’s astonishing 19-ball 49. The sacked vice-captain, branded “never to lead again” as part of Cricket Australia’s sanctions following the sandpaper saga, clobbered three sixes and nine fours.

“If you look at the last couple of years, he was outstanding for us,” Hyderabad’s stand-in skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar said. “He’s won matches single-handedly.”

source: theguardian.com