'Warner may have denied he cares about criticism but...' - Mitchell Johnson stands with his previous statement for David Warner

It seems like Mitchell Johnson has some personal angst for his former teammate and the veteran Australian opener, David Warner. The former pacer came up with the hard-hitting statement in his column, in which he questioned the farewell series for David Warner. Apart from that, Johnson also questioned Warner’s involvement in the sandpaper scandal.

However, Warner managed to shut the entire criticism thrown over him, with a sensational century, scoring 164 runs off 211 balls on the first day of the recently-concluded first Test of the three-match series against Pakistan.

"He did what he was paid to do." - Mitchell Johnson about David Warner

But Johnson didn’t look happy even with Warner’s century for Australia in the Perth Test. He came up with the same intensity of words in his next West Australian column, which he used to criticize Warner before the start of the Test series between Australia and Pakistan.

“I think my opinion in this column a couple of weeks ago is still valid. He hadn’t scored runs in about three years apart from the double century last summer. On day one Warner rode his luck early on, and it could have gone either way, and you take that and he went on to make 164. He did what he was paid to do in the first innings before Saturday’s duck in the second innings,” wrote Johnson in his column.

“Warner may have denied he cares about criticism of his form, but it does drive him as shown in his performance in the first innings. David Warner’s century on the first day of the Australian Test summer was no great surprise in some ways. There was a big media spotlight on Warner and his form and he seems to be at his most motivated when backed into a corner and he generally saves his best for home soil,” he added later.

Speaking of the ongoing three-match Test series between the Aussies and Pakistan, now the hosts have taken a lead of 1-0 in the series with a massive 360-run win in the first Test. Both teams will take on each other in the second Boxing Day Test at the MCG in Melbourne on Tuesday, December 26.