Australia opener David Warner retires from international cricket

The curtains came down on the illustrious 15-year career of David Warner after Australia were ousted from the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. Afghanistan beat Bangladesh in a low-scoring thriller and booked their slot in the semifinals, sending Australia home.

Australia’s fate lay in Bangladesh’s hands after they suffered a 24-run loss to India and they needed Bangladesh to beat Afghanistan in the final Super Eight game at St. Vincent. However, they lost by eight runs and ousted Australia and Warner along with themselves.

The swashbuckling Australian opener called it quits from ODIs after Australia’s win over India in the 2023 World Cup and played his last Test match against Pakistan in January this year.

He communicated that the ongoing T20 World Cup would be his final tournament in Australian colours.

It was an anti-climatic exit for Warner. There was no send-off, no guard of honour or any celebration. Against India, he scored six runs before edging an Arshdeep Singh delivery to Suryakumar Yadav in the slip cordon. He punched his bat with his right hand in frustration, then walked off the pitch with his head bowed.

After the match, he was involved in an animated discussion with Virat Kohli as Australia awaited the result of the Afghanistan vs Bangladesh game.

Warner made his international debut in January 2009 and has never looked back since then. He retires as arguably one of Australia’s greatest three-format players. He is Australia’s leading run-scorer in T20 cricket, with 3,277 runs from 110 games.

Warner played 112 Test matches and scored 8,786 runs at an average of 44.60, with a strike rate of 70.19. In ODIs, he amassed 6,932 runs from 161 matches.

The 37-year-old southpaw was also one of the most consistent slip fielders in the game.

Although he lets the bat do the talking most of the time, his involvement in anti-sportive activities will always be a blot on his cricketing career. The Australian opener was one of the chief masterminds of a notorious ball-tampering scandal against South Africa in 2018.

Cameron Bancroft used sandpaper to scuff the ball and concealed the evidence down his trousers during a Test match in Cape Town and Warner was found guilty of plotting the whole event along with the then-skipper Steve Smith.

Smith, Warner and Bancroft were handed suspension sentences and Warner was banned from ever leading the team.

Years before this incident, Warner was suspended and fined in June 2013 for punching England’s Joe Root in a Birmingham bar on the eve of the Ashes Test match.

Warner, however, has said he will continue to play franchise cricket in T20 leagues around the world and will also don the hat of a commentator soon.