BBL 2023-24: Watch - Steve Smith Dismissed For Duck After David Warner's 'Novak Djokovic' Sledge

Australian batsman David Warner retired from Test and ODI cricket at the start of this month. Warner played his last Test match against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground wherein Australia won the match by eight wickets and he received a memorable farewell to his Test career. Warner is now playing for his Big Bash League franchise Sydney Thunder.

David Warner is known to be one of those cricketers who were known for his aggressive body language. Warner has indulged in sledging with a lot of his opposition cricketers and did the same in a friendly manner with his teammate Steve Smith during the BBL 2023-24.

During the BBL match between Sydney Thunder and Sydney Sixers, Thunder opener David Warner was witnessed talking to Sixers batsman Steve Smith. During the friendly talk, Warner played mind games with Smith and stated that nothing could distract him. Warner was also seen guiding Smith to take up his guard. However, the mind games worked Smith got out the very first ball he faced after the banter.

Throughout the chat, Steve Smith didn’t respond to a single word of David Warner and was trying to focus on his batting.

Watch – David Warner dismisses David Warner with friendly mind games

GOLDEN DUCK!! 😱

An unbelievable start to the Sydney Smash as Steve Smith falls first ball after a little pre-game banter from David Warner! #BBL13 #GoldenMoment @BKTtires pic.twitter.com/3QXswZwKXj

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 12, 2024

Cheeky bit of banter from Warner and Smith's GONE first ball! 😱 #BBL13 pic.twitter.com/VLiojjpeyN

— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 12, 2024

David Warner said during the friendly chat, “He’s got his tennis swing on I reckon. Him and Novak Djokovic are mates now, so we might see a bit of top spin.” 

“Nothing is distracting him, nothing ever distracts him. He has got a mark on his foot there, so he might be fidgety about that. No, that’s not centre, little bit to the right. Mate, if you open the batting you have to mark it properly, one go only. No, he is locked in.”

After losing Steve Smith on the very first ball while batting first, James Vince and Josh Philipee added 59 runs for the second wicket and tried to recover the team’s innings. Vince at one end scored 27 runs from 27 balls whereas Philippe scored 47 runs from 35 balls.

Jordan Silk was the other top scorer in Sydney Sixers’ first innings and he scored 35 runs from 29 balls. Sixers have already scored 131/6 in 18 overs and are expected to reach a score of 150 runs.

Sydney Sixers are placed in the third spot of the BBL 2023-24 points table and have won four matches from the eight played. Sixers have lost two games whereas two ended in no result. Sydney Thunder on the other hand are placed in the seventh spot and is going through a rough patch in the tournament. Thunder are yet to win a match in the last four games.

Getting back to David Warner, the left-handed opening batsman is expected to get selected for the T20I series against West Indies starting this month. However, during the same time, he was supposed to play the ILT20 2024 starting from January 19.

David Warner will also play the T20I series against New Zealand beginning next month and will also feature for the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024. Warner is also expected to play in the T20 World Cup 2024.