Warner on Ashwin : If he says he's bowling at 60-70%, I’d hate to see 100%

Despite picking up 61 wickets in his last nine Test matches, Ravichandran Ashwin has claimed that he has not been at his best in the ongoing home season, which will culminate with the four-match Test series against Australia. This admission has come as a surprise for David Warner, who went on to joke about how he would hate to see Ashwin’s 100% then.

"Well if he says he's bowling at 60 to 70 %. then Jesus, what else has he got?

“24 or 25 five-fors. In the last 12 months, bowling at 60 to 70%. I’d hate to see 100% then,” Warner said in the buildup to the first Test on Thursday, reported Sportstarlive.

We’ve got our plans. Everyone’s got their plans against Ashwin.

Warner

The 30-year-old has admitted that they have made plans on how to deal with the threat of Ashwin. He said, "We’ve got our plans. Everyone’s got their plans against Ashwin. He is a very, very good bowler. We understand that. And the other thing as well is there’s other bowlers that we have to be mindful of. So we know that he will play a crucial a role in this, but as I’ve always said we just have to adapt to the conditions and assess when we're out there."

In their tour game against India A, Australians spinners Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe were at the receiving end of some hammering from Shreyas Iyer, who scored a double ton, and K Gowtham. However, despite that performance, Warner is happy with the preparation his team has had heading into the first Test at Pune.

“Look the guys had a great hit-out in Dubai. We trained fantastically, we trained hard. Miles in the legs. And that’s probably a great thing – we are fortunate and grateful for that opportunity,” he said.

“The guys are in a great frame of mind, we are ready to go. We are pumped. And it’s been a much-anticipated series so we are really looking forward to getting out there.”