David Warner's only interested in winning the game: Ian Chappell

[JUGRAJ SINGH]

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David Warner, the Australian opener, should be given opportunities to develop his captaincy in the international arena, according to Ian Chappell, the legendary Australian captain.

The 29-year-old showcased his innate leadership and astute tactical nous in leading Sunrisers Hyderabad to the 2016 Indian Premier League title. For Australia, Warner is deputy to Steve Smith, who at 26, is set for a long reign as national captain.

But Chappell reckoned it was a major burden for Smith to captain all three formats and believed Warner should be granted opportunities in the shorter formats. "If Smith wants to do it you've got to give him the job, but I think that sooner or later, probably sooner rather than later, he'll find that it's a pretty onerous load -- not just the captaincy side of it but playing all three," Chappell told The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday (May 31). "He'll probably find that he'll have to decide to give one away at some point and yes, I think Warner would make a decent captain, in fact I think he could be one of the better ones.

"The only way to get better at it is to do it, so any opportunity they can get, the selectors should give David a chance to captain," Chappell added. "Obviously they're going to have to rest Smith at some stage or another. The smart thing to do would be to make sure they don't rest Smith and Warner at the same time. When Smith is resting they can give Dave the opportunity to captain the side."

Chappell believed Warner was the consummate team player, a characteristic that would serve him well in captaincy. "To me he's the opposite of self-absorbed when it comes to cricket," Chappell said. "Everything I've seen from him is he's only interested in one thing, and that's winning the game. Everything he does is designed to try and help win the game. Somebody who thinks like that has a very good chance of being a decent captain."

Known for being a horse racing enthusiast, Warner's "gambling instincts" could be beneficial in the hot seat of captaincy, according to Chappell. "The thing I think always gives a guy a good chance to be a good Australian captain is if he's got some gambling instincts," he said. "Richie (Benaud) would only put a couple of bucks on the horses, but he followed the form and followed racing. The gambling instincts he had he took them onto the cricket field. There's no doubt that David has those instincts and I would imagine he'd take them onto the field with him as well."
 
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