David Warner: ‘I can’t do what Klaasen or Maxwell does, I trust my gameplan’ Premium

David Warner discusses his future in cricket, emphasizing his commitment to the IPL and nurturing young talent.

David Warner, having retired from Test cricket, may be heading towards calling it quits in the yellow jersey at the end of the T20 World Cup in June. The Australian, in a freewheeling chat, asserts he is far from done with the Indian Premier League, a tournament synonymous with his career. Excerpts:

I believe I have given every person out there hope that they can play all three formats. For me, it was about going out there and doing as best as I could and trying to perform every time I walked out to bat. I was able to do that in the Test arena and the white-ball arena, so hopefully that gives a lot of hope to a lot of kids out there that aspire one day to play red ball and Test cricket.

That’s not at all important. It’s about your mindset and how you want to approach the game. If you are an attacking player, always look to attack and then your defence will take care of itself. If you go out there looking to try and just defend the ball, if you are an attacking player, it’s probably not going to work in your favour. And that’s something that I had to adapt to when I was playing and making sure that I wasn’t going into my shell. And still playing the shots and the strokes that I like.

Yeah. Look for me, it’s about spending time with family. But I’ll prioritise IPL and Big Bash. I am doing commentary and I’ll probably play one or two, maybe in the middle of the year, just to keep your cricket skills up. I might even go back to NSW to play some stuff there to help out with the young guys. There is a lot of things that I can do in that opportunity in that sense.

It means a lot. Not just to me, but to everyone, the fans and everyone who supports not just Delhi Capitals but the IPL brings great satisfaction to people, puts a lot of smiles on people’s faces and it’s a game that we love.

I think it’s about trusting your method and backing your skill. Like for me, I can’t do what Heinrich Klaasen does. I can’t do what Glenn Maxwell does, but I know what I can do at the top of the order. You’ve got to trust your gameplan. You’ve got to know how to accelerate, come back a little bit and then try and go again. It’s about (being) cricket smart, and that’s how I have been consistent. I think you look at someone like Virat Kohli as well, who is very consistent, Shikhar Dhawan as well over the years is very consistent. You know, you have solid foundations in teams. You can even look at bowling units as well. You can count on Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Axar Patel. You can actually know you have got bankers in teams. And when you have that continuity and you have the experience, you are able to just keep rocking up and backing yourself and knowing what you are going to get from your players.

I think just in general, adapting to different kinds of conditions, I think it aids you well when you are playing international cricket, more specifically. Being in a big competition, playing in extreme pressure — the conditions, the expectations, the atmosphere — everything that comes with it. It’s basically the enormity of what the IPL is and what it brings. And for me, I absolutely love it, and I have been a part of it for a very long time now. And it’s so like I am part of the furniture.