‘Drop Warner’: Former teammate wants star axed

David Warner’s Test career is hanging by a thread, with reports Australia is considering axing the 36-year-old for the second Test.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Travis Head, controversially dumped for the opening match, could open the batting in Warner’s place in Delhi on Friday.

The Herald cites anonymous sources close to the team who confirmed discussions along those lines have taken place.

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Warner made one and 10 in the first Test, and averages just 22.16 in Tests in India, having reached 50 in just one of his last 13 innings in that country.

The left-hander’s struggles aren’t restricted to India – he’s averaged 29.96 over the last three years, an output that simply can’t be sustained. Also on the selectors minds will be the fact that Australia heads to England in June, where Warner had a disastrous tour in 2019.

Fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has written a column for the West Australian calling for his former teammate to be axed, taking aim at the selectors, who omitted Head from the first Test team despite his current ranking as the fourth best in the world.

“I would drop David Warner, elevate Matthew Renshaw to open and bring Travis Head into the middle order,” Johnson wrote.

“If it’s about a horses for courses policy based on previous form in the subcontinent, why didn’t that apply to Warner?

“That’s where it got murky for me.”

Former Australian captain Mark Taylor said after the first Test thrashing that he feared the decision to omit Head could have long-term implications.

“I worry about the psychological damage that may have been done to Travis Head because what the selectors have told him is that they don’t have great faith in him on those sorts of pitches,” he said.

“That’s not what you need when you’re going in to bat in places like India.”

Taylor said he expected Warner to retain his spot for the second Test.

“David’s been around long enough, and I know he’s had plenty of opportunities [but] I think you’ve got to give him at least the next Test match to get it right,” he said.

Meanwhile, the third Test, which was to be played in Dharamsala, will be moved because the ground is not ready. The outfield was recently re-laid to install new drainage.

Indore and Rajkot are two grounds under consideration to stage the match.

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