“They may not need me" - David Warner on playing 2025 Champions Trophy for Australia
Veteran opening batter David Warner feels Australia may not need him for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Although he announced his retirement from the longer formats of the game, he left the door ajar for a potential return to the next major ICC event, should the Men in Yellow need an opening batter.
However, with Travis Head settled in at the top of the order, and the promising emergence of Jake Fraser-McGurk, Warner reckons Australia will be more than fine without him.
“They may not need me," Warner told the Sydney Morning Herald about Australia's 2025 Champions Trophy campaign.
If that holds, then the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup will be Warner's final international endeavor. Despite coming into the tournament with shaky form, the southpaw slammed a quickfire fifty in Australia's first warm-up fixture against Namibia and a cameo against West Indies in the final practice match.
Warner further stated that Australia would continue to play fearless cricket in the T20 World Cup, where they have been drawn alongside England, Oman, Namibia, and Scotland in Group B.
"We’ve always played fearless and I think that’s why we’ve been so successful over the last few years,” he said. “We don’t care about our spot in a team, we just care about doing the best that we can, and making sure that whatever we’re doing, we’re trying to be that match winner," Warner said.
“And the fortunate thing is that we’ve got so many of them. One might come off one day, the next day someone else will come off. So we just know that one person in that top six, if they can get anywhere between 60 to 80 runs at a good strike rate, we know we’re always going to post a good total," he added.
Australia are yet to have their full squad in the Caribbean as some players recently played in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs.
"No chance" - Warner on IPL's high-scoring trend being replicated in the Caribbean
The recently concluded 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) produced high scores consistently that have never been experienced before. The unabashed batting style spurred on by the luxury of the impact sub, coupled with the conditions, made the 200-run mark a regular feature throughout the tournament.
Warner, however, has opined that there is no chance of such scores being put up in the Caribbean at the 2024 T20 World Cup.
“You’re playing eight or nine batters, and then you’re bowling seven, eight bowlers, and the wickets were extremely flat," Warner said of IPL 2024.
Australia will take on Oman at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on June 6 to kickstart their 2024 T20 World Cup campaign.