David Warner Called A 'Clown' For Joe Root Mind Games: 'India Tried It But...'
David Warner said Joe Root will have 'nightmares' about Josh Hazlewood. Moeen Ali called Warner a 'clown' and dismissed his mind games, praising Root's resilience.
We are still a good few months away from Ashes 2025 but the verbal barbs between the players, ex-players and pundits of both teams have already started. Recently, former Aussie opener David Warner said that England's best batter, Joe Root, will have 'nightmares' about pacer Josh Hazlewood before the series begins.
Now, ex-England spinner Moeen Ali has responded to it by calling Warner a 'clown'. Moeen believes Warner was trying to play mind games to unsettle Root, but it won't work, citing India's unsuccessful attempt to do the same, without specifying.
'He's just being Warner," Moeen said on the Beard Before Wicket podcast. 'He's a bit of a clown, to be honest with you. He's obviously trying to get into Rooty's head which he won't. He's not up for the whole banter thing. It's just Warner, isn't it?"
'Rooty's scored so many runs now, he's been through the whole thing, and it won't affect him. India tried it, and it just didn't work—clearly didn't—because he scored loads of runs. But yeah, there are some players you can do that to, and others you can't," Moeen added, pointing to Root's resilience in the face of similar attempts by other opponents.
During the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Root was one of the best batters, scoring 537 runs at an average of 67.13. But there were no significant public incidents of India trying to get under Root's skin, except England's first innings in the final Test, where Prasidh Krishna sarcastically lauded his batting stance. However, in that innings, he got out soon after scoring 29 (45), before scoring 105 (152) in the next attempt.
Warner's comments on Root also mentioned his batting technique and his inability to score a Test hundred in Australia yet.
'The way that he brings down his bat playing on Australian wickets, it can bring him undone and I've seen it in the past," Warner said on the sidelines of the Hundred. 'I think he will have nightmares before he gets over there about Josh Hazlewood. A bit like me and Broady. Joe is a hell of a cricket player, look at the runs he has scored, the second leading run-scorer in the world. But I'm sure he'd like to score a hundred in Australia. It's one that has eluded him. I think that will be on his mind, so we will have to wait and see."
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