A resurgence from a grueling tenure is always meant to see an exceptional upturn, at least on a personal tone. When David Warner, along with Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, was debarred from the international cricket following the ball-tampering saga, the cricket faithful endured a miscellaneous premonition regarding the southpaw’s revival, scheduled for a year later.

He was indeed keeping himself match-fit by being a part of domestic T20 leagues across the globe, but the 50-over format demands a contrasting psyche altogether, and even the 32-year-old was aware of that. Ahead of the 2019 ICC World Cup, Australia toured the UAE to face Pakistan in a five-game ODI series, and to everyone’s whammy, Warner was asked to work his way into the team, rather than being given a direct ticket.

It was a significant call from Australia’s side given that Warner was bound to be a part of their World Cup contingent. Nonetheless, a rebound was marked and as he would have predicted, it was marred by the bits of unnecessary affairs. Regardless what the likes of Moeen Ali or James Anderson had said in the build-up to the tournament, Warner and Smith were never to be left alone.

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It all started in as early as their tournament opener, against Afghanistan, where the duo remained a subject of harsh jeers. So much was the intensity that day that two fans even watched the game in Bristol from a balcony dressed as sandpaper.

Unfazed by the mockery, as a true Australia blood, Warner ended his innings with an unbeaten 89 off 114 deliveries as Australia’s top scorer of the day. Although this remained a match-winning knock, the innings didn’t live up the ‘Warner standard’ given how leisurely he played through it. Well, there’s nothing wrong in it, but the persona he has built for himself over the years wasn’t really justified that day.

Playing through a similar rate, Warner completed another World Cup half-century in a losing cause against India before smashing his 15th century against Pakistan at Taunton on June 12. And for another innings running, he took his time to assert any kind of authority.

"We'd all seen that he (Warner) probably hadn’t been batting as fluently as we're used to seeing," Ponting said when quipped over Warner’s knocks.

"Having spoken to him after the last game (against India) at The Oval. It was more of a mental thing than anything, he was just holding back a little bit and not playing with the freedom we're used to seeing him play with.”

And it indeed is a mental thing. Warner was smashing the bowlers all ends up at the Indian T20 League but looked extremely jangled in every innings he has played thus far. Come the Sri Lanka game at Trent Bridge, it was time for another Warner-masterclass. This time around though, the beast was set lose. The brute his bat usually carries was discharged to an extent that he went on to smash 14 boundaries and five sixes before completing his innings as tournament’s best (so far); a 147-ball 166.

“I think this is the new David Warner, he is more of a thinking cricketer now and I don’t know if this serves him well,” former Australian opener Michael Slater was quoted as saying in a media release on Tuesday.

“He has been adjusting to the conditions and has understood his role better.”

He might not have realized, but his innings has either broken or equaled several records. To begin with, he is only behind India’s Rohit Sharma to score 150 or more runs in ODIs.

Most 150+ runs innings in WC

Player

Inns

RG Sharma (INDIA)

7

DA Warner (AUS)

6

CH Gayle (WI)

5

SR Tendulkar (INDIA)

5

HM Amla (SA)

4

Back during Australia’s World Cup winning campaign in 2015, Warner scored 178 off 164 against Afghanistan in Perth, and today’s innings has made him the first player to score two 150+ scores in World Cup history. Not to forget, he is now the only Australian to score a ton against Bangladesh in a World Cup innings and has the second highest score against the Bangla Tigers (overall) in the tournament’s history; Virender Sehwag scored 175 in 2011.

Talk about making a substantial comeback, here’s David Warner for you.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Paul Ellis

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World Cup 2019David WarnerSteve Smith