David Warner

David Warner had one of the most memorable debuts in international cricket, when he was plucked from obscurity - without having played a single First-Class match - and made a stunning 89 off 43 balls in a T20l against South Africa. The innings was all the more remarkable due to its timing, coming as it did after a morale-shattering home Test series loss for Australia in 2008-09.

With T20 success, he made his ODI debut against the South Africans in Hobart. An aggressive 69 in just his second ODI seemed to confirm the rare talent of Warner. However, as the ODIs progressed, his form dipped and he was axed before forcing his way back into the side. He continued to impress in the T20 format of the game, and was one of the few bright spots during Australia's first round exit in the 2009 edition of the World T20 in England.

With a slot opening up in the Australian Test squad, Warner was one among the many choices. Already a regular in the ODI line-up, Warner made his Test debut against New Zealand in the Australian summer of 2011. After a modest debut at the Gabba, Warner came into his own with a career-defining century in Hobart. He belied expectations and became the 13th Australian opener to carry his bat through an innings. If the knock in Hobart was full of grit and determination, he showed another side of his batting abilities when he blasted a listless Indian bowling attack to all parts of the WACA during a stunning career-best knock of 180. Warner’s aggressive touch at the top of the order was in full flow once again when he creamed a superb 119 against a top notch South African attack at the Adelaide Oval in 2012.

On 12th June 2013, Warner was dropped for Australia's second match in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy game against New Zealand for disciplinary reasons. It later emerged that he had tried to punch Joe Root. The event happened hours after Saturday's loss to England at Edgbaston. On 13th June 2013, the board announced that Warner was to be fined ?7,000 (AU $11,500) and would not play for his country until the first Ashes Test on 10th July, 2013. Warner, subsequently, missed the rest of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and the tour matches against Somerset and Worcestershire.

A month later on 27th July 2013, while playing for Australia 'A' against South Africa 'A' in Pretoria, Warner was involved in an on-field altercation with South Africa 'A' wicket-keeper, Thami Tsolekile. This was deemed serious enough for the umpires to step in twice, however, no formal complaints were made. He scored 193 in that match and he was eventually forgiven and was drafted into the Australian side for the third Test against England. What followed was even more comical as he 'hooked' one to Root and was caught on the boundary.

In the Ashes series in Australia in 2013-14, he scored runs freely and emerged as the highest run-scorer. He scored 523 runs from five matches at an average of 58.11, which included two hundreds and two fifties.

Warner bettered his own effort in The Ashes 2013-14 by once again becoming the highest run-getter in the three-match Test series against the No.1 ranked team South Africa. He scored a mind-blowing 543 runs from six innings at an average of 90.50, which included three hundreds, with two of those hundreds coming in the last Test. He was rightly declared as the Man of the Series.

Warner continued to do well in all formats and also scored a fine hundred in the first Test of Australia's UAE tour in 2014. He scored a fifty in the home ODI series against South Africa to stay in good shape and smashed three hundreds against India in the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy to hurt the visitors badly. Warner was the second highest run-scorer for Australia in the 2015 World Cup. He amassed 345 runs in 8 games, which included a dashing 178 against Afghanistan, helping Australia to post 417 on board - the highest ever World Cup total.

Just like many of his colleagues, Warner had his share of problems against the swinging ball during the 2015 Ashes in England. The stocky Aussie compiled some fighting knocks and was one among the top three run-getters for his side during the all-important series. The pocket-rocket though had an incredible home summer (2016) as he struck 3 successive centuries against the Kiwis and was fittingly adjudged Man of the Series.

He backed it up with an 82-ball 100 against the Windies at the SCG in the Pink Test. What followed wasn't quite usual for Warner as he failed to repeat similar performances in New Zealand (both in Tests and ODIs). As if that wasn't enough, he was pushed down the order in T20Is which didn't work in his and the team's favour. He had a miserable World T20 in 2016.

He's never far from controversy, but what happened on the 2018 tour to South Africa could unfortunately be how his career is remembered. On that fateful afternoon of 24th March in Cape Town, when the cameras spotted Cameron Bancroft using a sandpaper to rub the ball, a crime he later accepted at the end of the day, Warner's name cropped up as being part of the 'leadership group' along with captain Steve Smith in a premeditated crime. What followed was massive outburst all over the cricketing world, with even the Prime Minister of Australia calling for action against these 'cheats'.

A Cricket Australia interrogation soon followed, leading to Warner being slapped with a one-year ban. The subsequent fallout included him losing out on his lucrative IPL deal and brand contracts. It was a year for Warner but he returned a stronger and hungrier man, as evident from his mind-boggling run in the 2019 IPL. It was a no-brainer for Australia to welcome him back to their squads and Warner was awarded a national contract for 2019-20 ahead of being named in Australia’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Roaring back to life in international cricket, Warner batted like a man possessed and gave Australia and the rest of the world a staunch reminder of what they had missed in the past year. On his first ODI back in Australian colors, Warner struck an unbeaten 89 in their game against Afghanistan and was adjudged the player of the match. As the tournament progressed, Warner only seemed to get better as Australia put up another dominant show at the World Cup. He struck a 107 against Pakistan, his first century upon return and backed that up with a 166 against Bangladesh just two games later. He struck another century, a 122 this time against South Africa in the last group-stage game and finished the tournament as Australia’s highest run-getter and the second highest overall, only behind Rohit Sharma, with 647 runs in 10 matches.

That form, however, didn’t carry over to the following Ashes. In a dismal show, Warner only managed 95 runs from 10 innings with his best being 61. Warner seemed to have no answers, particularly against Stuart Broad to whom he fell a whopping 7 times. While he struggled in Test cricket though, Warner continued to plunder bowling attacks in the limited overs formats. In October of 2019, Warner struck his maiden T20I hundred in a game against Sri Lanka and became only the third Australian to score a hundred in all formats.

His drought in Test cricket didn’t last long either. During the second Test of Pakistan’s 2019 Tour to Australia, Warner piled on the runs and struck his maiden Test triple hundred. In what was a day-night encounter at Adelaide, Warner meticulously dismantled Pakistan’s attack and Australia declared on 589/3 with Warner remaining unbeaten on 335.

In the following year, Warner became the quickest Australian to 5000 ODI runs. He was a part of the Australian squad that won the 2021 T20 World Cup at home and was their standout performer. Amassing 289 runs, including a match-winning fifty in the final, Warner bagged the Player of the Tournament award. The story was vastly different in the 2022 T20 World Cup though as Warner had paltry returns, scoring just 44 runs in 4 games.

Despite there being some notable performances, like a double-century against South Africa in the 2022 Boxing Day Test, the consistency that Warner was known for seemed to desert him. He struggled on overseas tours to Pakistan and Sri Lanka and serious questions about his place began surfacing after another sub-par performance in the 2023 Ashes. Despite not being in a rich vein of form and amidst much scrutiny, Warner was handed a spot in Australia’s 2023 World Cup squad, perhaps as one last shot at redemption.

IPL through the years

Overseas players are a prized asset to any franchise in the IPL, or any league for that matter. That David Warner has been the most successful overseas batsman in the history of the IPL is saying something. Warner has been a key player at the top of the order for the franchises he has represented - Delhi Daredevils from 2009 to 2013, the Sunrisers Hyderabad from 2014 to 2020 and the Delhi Capitals since 2021. Warner had an average first season with the Daredevils, scoring at an average of 23, and a relatively low strike rate in the 120s.

The switch to the Sunrisers worked wonders for the southpaw, after he was contracted by the franchise for US$880,000. In 2015, Warner was given the leadership role for SRH. He failed to take his side through to the playoffs, but he won himself the orange cap in the 2015 season for scoring the most number of runs (562). In the following season, he went a step further, leading his side to their maiden title in 2016 by beating RCB in the final. He contributed handsomely in the final, with a 38-ball 69, and ended the tournament as the second-highest run-scorer (848). His side failed to make the final in 2017, but he won himself his second Orange cap (641 runs at 58.27). However, he was banned by the BCCI from playing the 2018 IPL season after ball-tampering allegations in the Newlands Test. Returning to the side under Kane Williamson’s leadership, Warner had another stellar IPL in 2019. In just his second game back, Warner scored an unbeaten 55-ball 100 to announce his return. He won his 3rd Orange Cap that season after scoring 692 runs from just 12 games.

In 2020, Warner found himself leading the Sunrisers again and his pristine consistency with the bat continued. He became the first overseas batter to amass 5000 runs in the IPL and ended the season with 548 runs with his side bowing out after a loss to the Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2. Like in the past, however, controversy was always around the corner for Warner. The 2021 edition of the IPL saw Warner being dropped from the side half-way through the tournament and his exclusion was labelled as a “non-cricketing decision”, hinting that all was not well behind the scenes. After what was an obvious and bitter fallout between the Sunrisers and Warner, he returned to the Auction table in 2022 and was picked up by the Delhi Capitals for INR 2 crore. He was also named the captain of the side for the 2023 edition after regular captain, Rishabh Pant, was ruled out of the season following a harrowing car-crash.