As the Australian opener David Warner will draw the curtain to his international career after the ongoing T20 World Cup, former captain Ricky Ponting hailed the veteran batter as a ‘natural winner’ and said he will be missed for more than just the runs he scores after the 37-year-old retires.
Warner, who already bid farewell to ODI and Test cricket, earlier this year confirmed that the T20 World Cup 2024 will mark the culmination of his illustrious career His final ODI appearance was in a World Cup victory against India in 2023, while his Test career concluded with an impressive home series against Pakistan, highlighted by a century and a half-century.
Warne’s stage-by-stage retirement from national duty will be complete when Australia’s T20 World Cup campaign ends.
“He’s the sort of character you want to have around your team, especially in big tournaments like World Cups. And he’s just one of those natural winners. Everything he does, he wants to win. You can see that with his attitude in the field and the way he goes about his cricket.
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“So there’s more than just the runs that we’ll be missing when Warner finally is gone. But hopefully, the depth of Australian cricket is good enough to find someone to come in and fill that void,” Ponting told ESPNcricinfo. Warner came into the World Cup on the back of an injury-hit IPL for Delhi Capitals, where Ponting was the head coach, The Franchise saw a blistering form of youngster Jake Fraser-McGurk, who turned selectors’ heads in a discussion of finalising a T20 World squad and was named as one of the travelling reserves.
Speaking on Warner’s replacement, Ponting expressed faith in Fraser-McGurk’s ability to slot in at the top of the order. “It’s going to be a really big set of shoes to fill, there’s no doubt about that. They have got a lot of depth there. I’d be very surprised if he [Fraser-McGurk] doesn’t go straight into the T20 team when David’s finally done.
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“And for that matter, we saw Jake debut for Australia in the one-day stuff in the last Australian summer. I was lucky enough to coach him at the Delhi Capitals this year as well. He’s got extreme talent.”
If Australia emerged victorious in the T20 spectacle to hold trophies in all three formats at the same time, Warner could be one of just four players – alongside Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Travis Head – to have played in all three finals.
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