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'It’s Very Bizarre' - Warner Opens Up On Persistent Leadership Ban By Cricket Australia

image-lrncavziDavid Warner in World Cup 2023 (X.com)

David Warner reopened on his persistent leadership ban imposed by Cricket Australia (CA) in the aftermath of the 2018 ball-tampering saga. The veteran left-hander, who was one of the masterminds of the controversial sandpaper tactics in Cape Town, had received a lifetime ban on captaincy by the cricket board. 

Vice-captain at the time in the Steve Smith-led side, Warner has previously pleaded to CA for a reconsideration on the captaincy ban. However, the player has found no bail as CA doesn't see him returning to captaincy as a T20I specialist, having just retired from Tests and One-Day Internationals. 

For Warner, "it's very bizarre" as he feels he has been unfairly lambasted for the Newlands issue even as Smith has since captained Australia again. The batting great was handed a two-year captaincy ban alongside his one-year playing suspension. 

Warner On Leadership Ban With Australia 

As he contemplates post-retirement options after announcing the June's T20 World Cup 2024 as his final farewell point, Warner asked how could it be that he is allowed to coach the domestic first-class and senior national sides but can't be captain till the time he calls it quits?

"Apparently, I will be able to coach if allowed to in Australia. But I can’t captain. So yeah, I’m not sure what it is. It’s under contract with Australia. It’s a leadership position, so I’m not sure; I just don’t know. It’s very bizarre," the explosive left-hander told 'Code Sports'. 

Warner expressed his frustration and annoyance with the media which gave him flak for the Cape Town fiasco and recently played his alleged rift with former teammate Mitchell Johnson to extreme levels even as the cricketer posed no defence to Johnson's jeering and question mark raised on his right to get a desired Test farewell. 

"Whether it’s good or bad, I’m sleeping easy, and they’re all thinking about me, so I don’t know what their wives or husbands feel like when they’ve gone to bed, and they’re thinking about me," Warner said on his critics. 

Warner is currently in UAE to lead the Dubai Capitals in the second edition of the ILT20. The contractually-bound opener, however, will return to take part in the T20Is against the West Indies and New Zealand ahead of the T20 World Cup.