Agencies
St Vincent
David Warner’s international cricket career is over after Australia were eliminated from the T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan’s dramatic victory over Bangladesh ensured they progressed from the Super 8s to the semi-finals at the expense of the Aussies.
It denied 37-year-old opening batter Warner the possibility of two more matches at the tournament, including the potential swansong of a World Cup final.
In his final innings Warner made six runs against India on Monday as Australia slipped to a 24-run defeat in St Lucia.
Warner announced his decision to quit one-day internationals in the lead-up to his final Test match at the start of the year - although he said in May he would consider playing in the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan if he was called up by the Australia selectors.
Warner made his T20 international debut in January 2009 and has scored 3,277 runs at an average of 33.43 in 110 innings. He scored 6,932 runs at 45.30 in 159 ODI innings, including 22 centuries. In Test matches he made 8,786 runs at 44.59 with 26 hundreds, including a top score of 335 not out against Pakistan in December 2019.
Australia bowler Josh Hazelwood acknowledged the team will "miss him around the group, out in the field and off field” after an "amazing all-format career”.
Hazelwood said: "It’s sort of been a slow burn [retirement] with Test cricket and ODI cricket and now T20. So, life without him, we’ve sort of gotten used to it a little bit [but] it’s always different when you lose a player that’s been there for so long.”
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting pulled his compatriot aside following Australia’s loss to India to offer some advice. Ponting, of course, underwent this process about a decade ago.
"(I) put my arm around him. I said, ‘...just take a moment tonight to sit back by yourself and reflect on what’s been an unbelievable career across all three formats for Australia. We know he retired in the summer from test cricket, but you’ll struggle to find a guy that’s had as big an impact on all three forms in Australian cricket than David Warner has,” Ponting recounted on ICC’s Digital Daily Show as quoted by ICC.
"I’ve been able to play with him, I’ve been able to coach him in the IPL the last couple of years and I really enjoy his company. So he should be very proud of what he’s done,” he added.