Australia opener David Warner is hopeful of ending his international career on a high; moreover, he is also not backing away from captaining his nation if the opportunity arrives. The 35-year-old has earned big bucks as Sydney Thunders retained him for the upcoming Big Bash League and the southpaw is now staring at a busy season that will also see him opening up for Australia in the T20 World Cup 2022.
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“I haven’t had any conversations at all (yet). But look, I think at the end of the day any opportunity to captain would be a privilege,” Warner told Fox Sports.com.au.
“But, from my end, there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge, to have those conversations with Cricket Australia and my main focus is just actually playing cricket,” he added.
Making an impact on his international debut against South Africa in 2009, Warner has come a long way to become an international superstar. His body language being supreme on the field and the man from New South Wales usually doesn’t back away from any sledge or hyper celebrations on the field. However, he admits he has toned himself down.
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“I think I was always talked about, and talked into being, that aggressor, being that vocal one on the field,” Warner said when asked about his more relaxed approach.
“Obviously I did that because it got the best out of me, but I was also instructed to be that person, ‘it gets the team going’, and all that kind of stuff.
“Now it’s more about worrying about me.”
Warner’s life changed around March 2018 when he was caught red handed while ball tampering in the second Test match against South Africa in Cape Town. In a free-wheeling chat, he said he has stopped worrying what others think about him long ago.
“If you want to sit down to get to know me and have a beer with me, I’m sure your opinion of me would change,” Warner said.
“If you don’t like me for what you see on the TV, if you’ve never met me, I’m sure there’s guys I’ve played with who will say, ‘yeah, he’s great company’.”
“For me, I’ve stopped even thinking about what people think of me because at the end of the day, I’m living my life,” he said.
He also revealed that he had written a journal entry in 2013 where he noted the exact amount of runs and centuries he would score. Moreover, he had also written the exact year of retirement. That has changed though.
“My wife actually found a journal while unpacking some stuff from 2013,” he said. “I wrote down what I wanted to achieve and when I was going to retire.”
“I had 2033 but crossed out for 2023. I had like 20 (Test) hundreds, 20 ODI hundreds, 10 T20 hundreds, and over, I think, 6,000 Test runs, 5,000 ODI runs and 10,000 T20 runs. So I’ve pretty much ticked all them off bar two ODI (and two T20) hundreds.
“So, for me, going back to 2009, then 2013 labelling all that, I’ve pretty much accomplished everything I wanted to do.”
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