"He is an excellent decision-maker under pressure" - Shane Watson vouches for David Warner to be Australia's next T20I captain
Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson believes David Warner should take over as the Aussies' next T20I captain. Watson's comments came in the aftermath of the team's disappointing T20 World Cup 2022 on home soil.
The future of current skipper Aaron Finch is in serious doubt, with the management reportedly considering a revamp of the T20I side rife with young blood. While Finch has not shown any intention of retiring from T20 cricket for the time being, active discussions are said to be taking place about the future of the side.
Andrew McDonald and his fellow selectors have time to reflect on potential personnel changes given Australia's next T20I assignment is nine months away.
#T20WorldCup | @ARamseyCricket cricket.com.au/news/andrew-mc…
Opining that David Warner is the perfect candidate to lead Australia going forward, Watson told reporters:
"I've had an opinion on who should have been the short-term T20 World Cup captain for a while, and that's David Warner. For me, David Warner is an excellent decision-maker under pressure, tactually he's very good, he's a very good leader and he's very experienced as well."
Watson continued:
"I'm just disappointed that for his sake he hasn't had an opportunity to lead the Aussies because he's a very good leader. Obviously it's not a long-term solution, but another T20 World Cup is coming up in a few years and Dave is still going to be performing very well."
Warner was one of the candidates considered to take over the ODI side following Aaron Finch's retirement from the format in September 2022. However, the potential move was obstructed by the captaincy ban he copped for his involvement in the ball-tampering saga in 2018.
The southpaw has received heavy backing from teammates and former cricketers alike to have his ban overruled. However, Cricket Australia (CA) chose not to amend their current code of conduct and instead elected Pat Cummins as their next ODI captain.
"How hard is it to change one or two lines in a legal document?" - Shane Watson on Cricket Australia's decision to not review code of conduct
A particular section of Cricket Australia's code of conduct was arguably the only hurdle between David Warner and his dream of leading the country. Following weeks of decision-making, the board ultimately chose not to reverse Warner's leadership ban and left the code of review as it was.
That’s that for Australia at the #T20WorldCup
England join New Zealand in the semi-finals
Noting that the document should have been altered to allow Warner to take over the captaincy, Shane Watson said:
"How hard is it to change one or two lines in a legal document to make sure that someone who has paid for his mistakes and then some (can captain the side)? The code of conduct documents can be changed by someone in two seconds."
Warner had a lean T20 World Cup campaign after only recording 44 runs across four matches in the Super 12s stages.
Who should become Australia's next T20I captain? Let us know what you think.