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Mitchell Johnson has doubled down on his criticism of David Warner, despite the veteran opener belting 164 in Australia’s first innings of the first Test against Pakistan.
In the same West Australian column he first used to take aim at Warner a fortnight ago, Johnson claimed his opinion was “still valid” and suggested the opener’s first innings ton was lucky.
“On day one of the first Test against Pakistan Warner rode his luck early on — and it could have gone either way — and you take that and he went on to make 164,” Johnson wrote.
“He did what he was paid to do in the first innings before Saturday’s duck in the second innings.
“Warner may have denied he cares about criticism of his form, but it definitely does drive him as shown in his performance in the first innings.
“That sort of atmosphere is something Warner revels in.”
He will retire after his home Test in Sydney next month.
“I think my opinion in this column a couple of weeks ago is still valid,” Johnson wrote in his latest column.
“He hadn’t scored runs in about three years apart from the double century last summer.
“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 a five-Test series.”
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