Warner dedicates his century to Hughes

David Warner dedicated his 10th Test hundred to Phil Hughes.

The 28-year-old Australian opener said here on Tuesday, “I am proud of the guys who went in there and played today.”

Warner said this century was his most memorable in Tests for the circumstances it was scored under.

“For me to score a hundred today was just fantastic. It is going to stay with me for the rest of my life,” he said.

On him jumping in joy and pumping his fists after reaching the landmark, Warner said, “I know, Hughes was there watching me. He would have wanted me to jump and celebrate.”

Warner spoke about Hughes being a part of the proceedings and said: “He is always going to be with us.”

The left-hander said Hughes himself would have been surprised with the amount of support he had received throughout Australia.

“He will be out there smiling.” Warner revealed, “It was emotionally tough for me out there initially. Gradually, I settled down.”

Number 63

Asked about his reaction when on 63, Warner replied, “It was such a rare, horrific incident when Hughes was on 63. I wanted to move on from there. The crowd realised it too. It took a few seconds to get my thoughts going again.”

Warner said number 63 would, from now on, always stay in the consciousness of the Australian people.

He said the hardest part yet for him would be to play in the fourth Test at Sydney, the venue where Hughes suffered the injury that eventually took his life. The dashing Australian opener said a lot of cricket was still to be played in the Test. “We have to soldier on.”

Warner admitted he should have gone on to a bigger score for his team and attributed his dismissal to “mental fatigue and heat.”

He said the Indian pacemen bowled well with the second new ball and noted they had pitched too short in the morning.

Confident debutant

India’s debutant leg-spinner Karn Sharma said he had come to know about playing the Test in the morning.

“I was confident I was going to play at some stage in the series, but it is nice to play in the first Test.”

He spoke about the Director of the Indian cricket team, Ravi Shastri, helping him out at the nets both mentally and technically.

Karn said there had not been much purchase for him so far but expected the pitch to assist spinners later in the game.

The leg-spinner said it had not been easy for the Indians, too, to play on day one.

“There was a big picture of Hughes on the ground and we all knew we were playing after a terrible tragedy.”