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After clinching the ODI World Cup 2023 in India, the Pat Cummins-led Australia will take on Pakistan in a three-match Test series, tarting December 14 in Perth. But as the team from Down Under aims to take on the Men in Green, who will take on the field under the leadership of Shan Masood for the first time, former Australian fast bowler, Mitchell Johnson launched a scathing attack on his former teammate, David Warner.
This comes as the Australian opener, David Warner earlier confirmed the three-match Test series being his final in the longest format of the game. The comments from Warner’s ex-teammate, who shared the dressing room across formats, come after Cricket Australia named a 14-member squad for the first Test on Sunday, 3 December. Johnson, in a column of The West Australian, questioned the authorities of giving a hero-like send off to Warner, who was part of the 12-month ban in the infamous sandpaper gate scandal of 2018.
“As we prepare for David Warner’s farewell series, can somebody please tell me why? Why a struggling Test opener gets to nominate his own retirement date,” questioned Mitchell Johnson in the West Australian.
“And why a player at the centre of one of the biggest scandals in Australian cricket history warrants a hero’s send-off?”, he further added. Adding that Warner wasn’t alone in infamous sandpaper gate, further asserted that Warner used his power as the leader of the side in the 2018 incident. “Although Warner wasn’t alone in Sandpaper gate, he was at the time a senior member of the team and someone who liked to use his perceived power as a ‘leader’,” he added.
The Shan Masood-led Pakistan will take on the Aussies Down Under in a three-match Test series. While the first will be played from 14-18 December in Perth, the second will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from 26-20 December, followed by the final Test of the series at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3-6 in 2024.
Australia's squad for first Test against Pakistan:
Pat Cummins (C), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labu schagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Lance Morris, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc and David Warner.
