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Published 13:20 IST, July 5th 2020

Justin Langer equates David Warner to Floyd Mayweather, loves having him in the side

Australia's head coach Justin Langer heaped praise on the team's fiery opener David Warner and equated him to the unbeaten boxing legend Floyd Mayweather

Reported by: Koushik Narayanan
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Australia's head coach Justin Langer heaped praise on the team's fiery opener David Warner and equated him to the unbeaten boxing legend Floyd Mayweather. David Warner has been in prime form ever since he returned from the ball-tampering ban, along with Steve Smith - a scandal that has made it impossible for the former to return as Australia's skipper ever again. Caught in the act for the Sandpaper-gate controversy in South Africa in 2018, David Warner was slapped with a lifetime ban on captaincy although Smith is once again eligible to take over the reins of the team. Justin Langer expressed happiness in having David Warner in the side and compared his presence in the side to having boxing great Floyd Mayweather. 

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'Absolute ripper'

Speaking on Channel Nine television's 'Sports Sunday', Justin Langer hailed David Warner as an 'absolute ripper' and expressed happiness in having him in the side. The team's head coach compared the opener's presence in the side to having unbeaten boxing great Floyd Mayweather. However, Justin Langer pointed out that David Warner could never captain Australia again as he has a lifetime captaincy ban imposed on him following the Sandpaper-gate scandal in 2018. 

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"Look, I support him. Having David Warner in the team is like having Floyd Mayweather in the team," Langer said. 

"I don't think he'll be a captain of Australia again because of where we're at, but I love having him in the team. He's an absolute ripper"

"I love him. He talks it up, he is a great player by any calculations and he's been fantastic in the team over the last two years," Langer added.  

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Sandpapergate scandal

During Australia's tour of South Africa in 2018, in the third Test match at Newlands, Australia's Cameron Bancroft was caught by the television cameras trying to rough up one side of the ball with sandpaper to make it swing. Then skipper Steve Smith and Vice-Captain David Warner were also found to be involved in the incident and both of them later plead guilty. All three received unprecedented sanctions from Cricket Australia, with Steve Smith and David Warner handed a ban of one year from cricket and lifetime ban from captaincy. 

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13:20 IST, July 5th 2020