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Australia's David Warner bats during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup cricket match between Australia and Bangladesh in North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladk
With a tally of 14,028 runs in the T20 format across the world, former Australian cricketer David Warner remains one of the most prolific run-scorers in the format over the years. While the 39-year-old played in 110 T20Is for Australia amassing 3277 runs at an average of 33.47 and a strike rate of 142.47, Warner also played in 112 Tests and 161 ODIs for Australia and was part of multiple world title winning Australian teams over the years. Warner remained unsold in the IPL mega auction last year but the Australian remains one of the prolific scorers in Big Bash League and amassed his second consecutive tally of more than 400 runs in Big Bash League this season for the Sydney Thunder. Thunder bowed out of the league with a last spot finish in the league. Warner has now announced that he will be recommitting to Sydney Thunder for another season and it means that Warner will join the likes of Brad Hogg, Brad Hodge, Peter Siddle, Shane Warner and others to play in BBL post the age of 40.
“I’m really excited to commit to another season with Thunder. It was certainly a challenging year for us, we are a much better team than what we put on the field this season and were unable to put a consistent game together. But the support from our fans – turning up in numbers every game – it played a massive role in my decision to stay. I feel I’ve got plenty more to give to this team and to this game. I felt pretty comfortable with my performance and was proud to give the team a fighting chance. We’ve already begun reviewing the season and putting the right plans in place to ensure we deliver a much stronger campaign in BBL16,” Warner said in a statement released on Friday.
Warner has played in 184 matches in the Indian Premier League in his career so far and has amassed 6565 runs at an average of 40.52 and at a strike rate of 139.77. Part of the IPL winning team Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016, Warner is currently the fourth player in the world to surpass 14,000 runs in the T20 format. Thunder management also welcomed Warner for committing to another season.“We’re stoked that Davey is staying on for another season. He’s had an incredible year, not only is he one of the greatest T20 players in the world over the last 15 years, but still very clearly one of the best batters in the BBL and his fitness levels are elite. His hunger and his drive as a leader to improve upon a disappointing season for the squad is as strong as ever,” Thunder GM Trent Copeland said in the statement.
Warner had retired from Test cricket in 2024 and played his last Test against Pakistan at Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2024. The two-time ODI World Cup winner had also announced his ODI retirement in January, 2024 and had announced his retirement from international cricket in June 2024 following Australia’s exit from the T20 World Cup.
The veteran cricketer had shared his desire to comeback from his Test retirement ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2024-2025. “I’m always available, just got to pick up the phone. I’m always dead serious. Let’s be honest, the guys have played one red-ball game [first round of the shield] since their last Test matches in February, so I’ve almost had the same preparation. Honestly, if they really needed myself for this series, I’m more than happy to play the next Shield game and go out there and play. I did retire for the right reasons to finish the game, and I wanted to finish. [But] my hand is up if they desperately need someone. I’m not going to shy away from that.” Warner had told News Corp.
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