The left-handed legendary opening batsman David Warner is set to retire from Test cricket after the third test match against Pakistan starting tomorrow at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Warner has already announced his retirement from One Day Internationals. Known for his aggressive stance, with the batting and sledging, the 37-year-old batsman from New South Wales will be playing his 112th test match as his last.
Since his T20I debut against South Africa in 2009, Warner has come a long way. He has represented Australia in 99 T20Is, scoring 2894 runs, including a century and 24 half-centuries. His strike rate in T20Is is 141.31. In his ODI career, Warner played 161 games, scoring 6,932 runs at an average of 45. He scored 22 centuries during this tenure.
David Warner’s Heroics
Right from his T20 debut, Warner went off with a flier, scoring 89 off just 43 balls. With zero first-class cricket experience, Warner scored 69 runs in his second ODI in the same month. Despite a group-stage exit for Australia in the 2009 T20 World Cup, Warner managed to score a half-century.
Getting a test call-up in the 2011 Australian summer, Warner carried his bat in the second test of his career at Hobart against the Kiwis. Later, he went after the visiting Indian squad, scoring 180 at WACA during the 2011-12 home season.
He was the leading run-scorer during the 2013-14 Ashes, scoring 523 runs at an average of 58.11. He also overpowered the dominating top-ranked South African squad, scoring 543 runs in three tests, averaging more than 90.
His comeback after the Sandpaper Gate was the most remarkable when he finished as the second-highest run-getter in the World Cup 2019, scoring 647 runs. He later scored his maiden T20 hundred against Sri Lanka in the same year. Following that, he played the innings of his life, scoring 335 against the visiting Pakistan squad.
David Warner at World Cups
Warner has been an asset for the Australian squad during the major ICC tournaments. The two-time World Cup winner, Warner has played 29 innings, scoring 1527 runs at an average of 56.56, striking healthily at run-a-ball. He averages a mammoth 62.50 in the tournament finals.
He was crowned as the man of the tournament for taking his side to their maiden T20 World Cup title in 2021 at the UAE and Oman. Warner scored 289 runs during the campaign, with a crucial 89 against West Indies to secure a knockout slot, followed by 49 against Pakistan in the semi-final, and 53 in the final against New Zealand.
David Warner’s Controversies
Warner was a hot-shot and popularly surrounded by controversies throughout his career. He was dropped for a game in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, fined 7,000 Great Britain Pounds for punching English cricketer Joe Root, and later kept away from the entire Champions Trophy and the first Ashes Test.
He also got into an altercation with South African wicketkeeper batter Quinton De Kock, who made vulgar comments about Warner’s wife. Warner was restrained by his teammates but was penalised 75 per cent match fees and three demerit points.
However, the lowest phase in his career was the 2018 Sandpaper Gate (Australian Ball-tampering scandal), when Cameron Bancroft was spotted by the camera using sandpaper to rub the ball and make a side shinier to get more swing in flight. His name popped up with Steve Smith for pre-meditated cheating.
An interrogation followed by the incident led to a year’s ban on Warner from International cricket.
While Warner hangs his boots, it would be delightful to see him play his final few months with the white ball in the shortest format of the game, as he would love to end his career on a high end in his final T20 World Cup in yellow.