David Warner had one of the most memorable debuts in international cricket, when he was plucked from obscurity - without having played a single First-Class match - and made a stunning 89 off 43 balls in a T20l against South Africa. The innings was all the more remarkable due to its timing, coming as it did after a morale-shattering home Test series loss for Australia in 2008-09.

With T20 success, he made his ODI debut against the South Africans in Hobart. An aggressive 69 in just his second ODI seemed to confirm the rare talent of Warner. However, as the ODIs progressed, his form dipped and he was axed before forcing his way back into the side. He continued to impress in the T20 format of the game, and was one of the few bright spots during Australia's first round exit in the 2009 edition of the World T20 in England.

With a slot opening up in the Australian Test squad, Warner was one among the many choices. Already a regular in the ODI line-up, Warner made his Test debut against New Zealand in the Australian summer of 2011. After a modest debut at the Gabba, Warner came into his own with a career-defining century in Hobart. He belied expectations and became the 13th Australian opener to carry his bat through an innings. If the knock in Hobart was full of grit and determination, he showed another side of his batting abilities when he blasted a listless Indian bowling attack to all parts of the WACA during a stunning career-best knock of 180. Warner’s aggressive touch at the top of the order was in full flow once again when he creamed a superb 119 against a top notch South African attack at the Adelaide Oval in 2012.
In the Ashes series in Australia in 2013-14, he scored runs freely and emerged as the highest run-scorer. He scored 523 runs from five matches at an average of 58.11, which included two hundreds and two fifties.

Warner bettered his own effort in The Ashes 2013-14 by once again becoming the highest run-getter in the three-match Test series against the No.1 ranked team South Africa. He scored a mind-blowing 543 runs from six innings at an average of 90.50, which included three hundreds, with two of those hundreds coming in the last Test. He was rightly declared as the Man of the Series.

Warner continued to do well in all formats and also scored a fine hundred in the first Test of Australia's UAE tour in 2014. He scored a fifty in the home ODI series against South Africa to stay in good shape and smashed three hundreds against India in the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy to hurt the visitors badly. Warner was the second highest run-scorer for Australia in the 2015 World Cup. He amassed 345 runs in 8 games, which included a dashing 178 against Afghanistan, helping Australia to post 417 on board - the highest ever World Cup total.
His drought in Test cricket didn’t last long either. During the second Test of Pakistan’s 2019 Tour to Australia, Warner piled on the runs and struck his maiden Test triple hundred. In what was a day-night encounter at Adelaide, Warner meticulously dismantled Pakistan’s attack and Australia declared on 589/3 with Warner remaining unbeaten on 335.

In the following year, Warner became the quickest Australian to 5000 ODI runs. He was a part of the Australian squad that won the 2021 T20 World Cup at home and was their standout performer. Amassing 289 runs, including a match-winning fifty in the final, Warner bagged the Player of the Tournament award. The story was vastly different in the 2022 T20 World Cup though as Warner had paltry returns, scoring just 44 runs in 4 games.

Despite there being some notable performances, like a double-century against South Africa in the 2022 Boxing Day Test, the consistency that Warner was known for seemed to desert him. He struggled on overseas tours to Pakistan and Sri Lanka and serious questions about his place began surfacing after another sub-par performance in the 2023 Ashes. Despite not being in a rich vein of form and amidst much scrutiny, Warner was handed a spot in Australia’s 2023 World Cup squad, perhaps as one last shot at redemption.

IPL through the years

Overseas players are a prized asset to any franchise in the IPL, or any league for that matter. That David Warner has been the most successful overseas batsman in the history of the IPL is saying something. Warner has been a key player at the top of the order for the franchises he has represented - Delhi Daredevils from 2009 to 2013, the Sunrisers Hyderabad from 2014 to 2020 and the Delhi Capitals since 2021. Warner had an average first season with the Daredevils, scoring at an average of 23, and a relatively low strike rate in the 120s.

The switch to the Sunrisers worked wonders for the southpaw, after he was contracted by the franchise for US$880,000. In 2015, Warner was given the leadership role for SRH. He failed to take his side through to the playoffs, but he won himself the orange cap in the 2015 season for scoring the most number of runs (562). In the following season, he went a step further, leading his side to their maiden title in 2016 by beating RCB in the final. He contributed handsomely in the final, with a 38-ball 69, and ended the tournament as the second-highest run-scorer (848). His side failed to make the final in 2017, but he won himself his second Orange cap (641 runs at 58.27). However, he was banned by the BCCI from playing the 2018 IPL season after ball-tampering allegations in the Newlands Test. Returning to the side under Kane Williamson’s leadership, Warner had another stellar IPL in 2019. In just his second game back, Warner scored an unbeaten 55-ball 100 to announce his return. He won his 3rd Orange Cap that season after scoring 692 runs from just 12 games.

In 2020, Warner found himself leading the Sunrisers again and his pristine consistency with the bat continued. He became the first overseas batter to amass 5000 runs in the IPL and ended the season with 548 runs with his side bowing out after a loss to the Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2. Like in the past, however, controversy was always around the corner for Warner. The 2021 edition of the IPL saw Warner being dropped from the side half-way through the tournament and his exclusion was labelled as a “non-cricketing decision”, hinting that all was not well behind the scenes. After what was an obvious and bitter fallout between the Sunrisers and Warner, he returned to the Auction table in 2022 and was picked up by the Delhi Capitals for INR 2 crore. He was also named the captain of the side for the 2023 edition after regular captain, Rishabh Pant, was ruled out of the season following a harrowing car-crash.