David Warner: A tough nut to crack
David Warner. When I first spoke to him in 2013, he was in the middle of a storm and clouds of a possible ban were hovering over his head. Just a few days back he had punched England batsman Joe Root in a Birmingham bar.
At that point, his future in international cricket looked uncertain. During the conversation, however, the first thing that struck me was the steel inside. He was nervous and vulnerable, but there was a deep conviction to not give up, to fight for his career, to improve.
And he succeeded. Not only did he make a stellar comeback, he was soon Australia’s go-to player across all three formats.
The big change happened when Warner started going out with Candice, a professional iron-woman athlete who would go on to marry him. She made Warner understand the importance of discipline in life.
It reflected in his cricket. In the next couple of years, Warner made a big impact in the success of every team he played for, including leading Sunrisers Hyderabad to their first and only IPL trophy in 2016 scoring 848 runs in the tournament.
But just when everything seemed settled and he was in line for Australian captaincy, Warner, along with two other players, got embroiled in Sandpapergate in 2018. While he served his sentence and paid a heavy price, the incident hardened him up.
“There are cameras outside the house 24/7 and it is impossible to take the kids out. People can say anything to me but they ought to realise that my daughters and wife need to be left alone,” Warner told this writer after the Sandpapergate.
“The comeback will define me and not the controversy. I need to get back on the field and to do so I will work the hardest I ever have,” he had added in a soft but determined voice.
In 2021, Warner was
