David Warner stuns by announcing Test retirement date ahead of WTC final vs India
Australia opener David Warner has dropped a retirement bombshell just four days before the start of the much-anticipated World Test Championship Final at The Oval against India.
Warner on Saturday revealed that he has decided to end his long and illustrious Test career with plans to bid adieu to the format at the end of the upcoming Australian summer.
Warner is presently in London gearing up for the WTC final against the Rohit Sharma-led Indian side which begins from June 7 onwards before he shifts focus to the five-match Ashes series with England that follows thereafter.
Speaking to reporters in Beckenham, Warner revealed that he wants to end his Test career following Australia’s Test match against Pakistan in January at his home ground in Sydney, thereby ruling himself out of the two-match Test series against West Indies. However, he did clarify that he intends to keep playing white-ball cricket for Australia until 2024 T20 World Cup which will be held in West Indies and the USA.
“You’ve got to score runs. I’ve always said the (2024) World Cup would probably be my final game,” Warner said on Saturday.
“I probably owe it to myself and my family – if I can score runs here and continue to play back in Australia – I can definitely say I won’t be playing that West Indies series.
“If I can get through this (WTC final and ensuing Ashes campaign) and make the Pakistan series I will definitely finish up then.”
Warner however admitted that there are no guarantees on his spot in the XI as he prepares for the six-Test tour of the UK and hence feels the need to be consistent and perform much better than what his numbers reflected in the previous tour of the country during Ashes 2019. He had averaged only 10 back then while being troubled by deluveries from Stuart Broad. The 36-year-old hopes that his form in the recently-concluded IPL season transforms in red-ball cricket.
“I want to play that 2024 World Cup. It is something that is on the back of my mind. We’ve got a lot of cricket before that, and then I think it stops from February,” said Warner.
“So for me, then I’ll have to play IPL some of the other franchise leagues and then get into that rhythm to play in June.
“There will be a bit of cricket around to play. Who knows I might go back and play a Shield game for New South Wales.”