David Warner, the veteran Australian hitter, has chosen to retire from Test cricket following the New Year’s Test against Pakistan in Sydney early next year. He has received criticism from a wide range of media outlets for supposedly going against Australian ideals by seeking to retire from sport.
Former teammate Mitchell Johnson was perhaps Warner’s harshest critic for this wish. The former pacer, the hero of Australia’s 2015-16 Ashes revenge, ripped on Warner for this specific request and questioned whether the New South Welshman had enough form going into the series.
But this is not the first time that David Warner and a cricket player have exchanged angry words. The opening batsman had a notoriously short fuse, and his career is replete with instances in which he sparred with cricket players all around the world.
We offer you three instances in which a batsman got into a verbal dispute with David Warner in this listicle:
3. Mitchell Johnson, 2023
Mitchell Johnson and David Warner’s feud has been widely publicized.
Johnson lambasted the Australian selectors for bowing to pressure and offering Warner a final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, as per the batter’s requests, in his column for the Western Australian.
Johnson stated that he did not consider Warner a hero because of his role in the ball-tampering controversy, and that such a goodbye was not in keeping with Australian cricket’s high standards.
Johnson also chastised selector George Bailey for being ‘too close’ to the players, to which the Tasmanian replied by asking the former how he was feeling. This erupted into yet another verbal brawl.
2. Rohit Sharma, 2015
David Warner and current India captain Rohit Sharma got into a verbal altercation during a tri-series between Australia, England, and India.
When Warner confronted Rohit, who was on strike, during an ODI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, he got into trouble with the law and the match referee penalized him half of his match money.
The umpires and Suresh Raina, the non-striker, had to intervene to keep the two apart as the situation appeared to build from apparently nothing.
The spat between Warner and Rohit erupted when Australian players felt India had broken an unspoken rule by executing an overthrow after the ball had struck the batter.
1. Joe Root, 2013
David Warner and Joe Root had one of the most heated arguments in his career during the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy in England. For an incident in Birmingham’s Walkabout Bar, the Australian batter received a £7,000 fine and a one-month suspension.
The problem arose on the evening when England defeated Australia in a group stage match. A few English players, notably Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, and Root, joined the Australian squad when they were having drinks at the aforementioned pub near their hotel.
Root attempted to make fun of Warner by donning a green and gold Australian wig-like beard, which Warner took offense to.
The argument escalated into a physical assault on Joe Root after a heated verbal exchange. Cricket Australia later fined Warner and banned him from the rest of the competition.
