David Warner swears by self-belief in title triumph

[JUGRAJ SINGH]

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On the eve of the Indian Premier League 2016 final, a calm Virat Kohli addressed the media with an admirable sense of clarity. Despite the baggage of two previous failures in IPL finals hovering over the team, Kohli put the situation in perspective, played down the hype and expectation and stressed on the importance of maintaining composure. A little over 24 hours later, David Warner, his opposite number and a cricketer said to be cut of similar cloth, had the coveted, shiny trophy in his grasp as he sang praise of the same c-word.

The Sunrisers bowlers found themselves in a tricky situation as Chris Gayle decided that the final would be an apt fixture to bring out his A game. The bowling unit, whose success has been synonymous with the team's success over the last couple of months, ran the risk of undoing all the good work.

"One of the things that go through your mind with a guy like Gayle (is that) he'll always keep going. The hardest thing is to try and maintain our composure while he's going and playing like this," Warner said in the post-match press conference. "When I spoke to the bowlers, I told them to keep backing themselves and our plan was to bowl wide to him and bowl slower balls. If he hits you for a six, then so be it 'well done, great shot'."

Gayle's decision to swing his bat at nearly every delivery, and successfully so, meant the Royal Challengers scored at 10 runs an over with consummate ease. At 100 for no wicket in 9 overs, Warner was running out of options while the home side was running away with the chase. Yet, in a breakthrough lay Sunrisers' route to recovery.

"We always knew if we get a wicket, or two wickets, it is going to be hard for the next person to come in and play their shots. So for us, it was about staying composed and having belief," Warner revealed.

Gayle's morale-crushing start left room for a hindsight regret for Warner. The Australian's aggressive call to bat first on a bowler's graveyard against the most formidable batting line-up led by a prolific run-chase and a man in immaculate form, came with risk of magnanimous proportions. While acknowledging the fact that Royal Challengers were ahead of them in the chase at one point, Warner revealed how they seldom panicked before expertly turning the tables on their opposition.

"I am firm believer that runs on the board in a final situation puts pressure on (the chasing side) and 208 to me equals almost 215-220 in these situations. But we always know that if they get off to a good start, it is always about staying calm. They were ahead of the game, they were more than 10 an over, and there was no panic from our bowlers. The best thing I can say about our bowling unit and being accountable as bowlers is they executed what they wanted to bowl. Yeah we won, but even if we were on the other side of the result, they kept on believing and backing themselves to execute what they go out to every day. It was about us keeping relaxed and having that self-belief and not panicking," Warner said.
 
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