NEW DELHI: Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting remarked that the national side will miss David Warner's aggressive, go-for-win attitude once he retires from international cricket after the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA.
Warner, who retired from Tests and ODIs earlier this year, is participating in the ICC T20 World Cup from June 1 to 29. Australia is grouped in Group B with arch-rivals England, Oman, Scotland, and Namibia, and will commence their campaign against Oman on Thursday.
Despite an underwhelming IPL season for Delhi Capitals, where Warner managed only 168 runs in eight matches at an average of 21.00 and a strike rate of 134.40, he remains a crucial player for Australia. His IPL performance included just one half-century and a string of low scores following initial knocks of 29, 49, and 52.
Warner has the opportunity to make history in this tournament. If Australia secure the title, they will hold the major championships in all formats simultaneously. Warner, along with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Travis Head, would be the only players to have participated in all these finals.
Speaking about Warner, Ponting said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, "He is the sort of character you want to have around your team, especially in big tournaments like World Cups. And he is just one of those natural winners. Everything he does, he wants to win. You can see that with his attitude on the field and the way he goes about his cricket."
"So there is more than just the runs that we will be missing when Warner finally is gone. But hopefully the depth of Australian cricket is good enough to find someone to come in and fill that void," he added.
Ponting expressed hope that young Australian sensation Jake Fraser-McGurk, an "extreme talent" he coached during the IPL 2024 with Delhi Capitals, will be able to fill David Warner's shoes.
Ponting believes that Fraser-McGurk has the potential to step up and make a significant impact for the national team, highlighting his impressive skills and promising future in cricket.
"It is going to be a really big set of shoes to fill, there is no doubt about that. They have got a lot of depth there. I would be very surprised if he [Fraser-McGurk] does not go straight into the T20 team when David's finally done. And for that matter, we saw Jake debut for Australia in the one-day stuff in the last Australian summer. I was lucky enough to coach him at the Delhi Capitals this year as well. He's got extreme talent," he said.
In nine matches of IPL 2024, Fraser-McGurk scored 330 runs at an average of 36.66 and an astonishing strike rate of 234.04. He notched up four half-centuries, with a best score of 84, and amassed 32 fours and a massive 28 sixes in just 141 balls.
Fraser-McGurk re-wrote the powerplay record books, becoming the first-ever IPL player to hit three half-centuries in less than 20 balls and scoring the fastest fifty for Delhi Capitals in just 15 balls. With David Warner nearing the end of his career, Fraser-McGurk could be the opener Australia needs.
Ponting backed the Australian squad to achieve something special by holding all major world titles across all formats simultaneously. He praised the group of players, highlighting their experience, leadership, and exceptional talent.
"It is a really good group of players and it's starting to get spoken about a little bit more. Certainly, even internally, you hear a lot of the players in these current teams [are] actually recognising and talking about how lucky they are and what a special team that they know that they are playing in," he said.
"When you are involved in a group like that, it is really important that you make every post a winner. So they have got an opportunity here in a T20 World Cup to do something really special. And I know they will leave no stone unturned to give themselves the best chance to do that. They have got some very experienced players on their side."
"They have got a few leaders on the side as well. Mitchell Marsh is the captain of this team and Pat Cummins obviously being the one-day and Test captain, and Pat has just come off a pretty successful captaincy campaign with Sunrisers [Hyderabad] as well in the IPL. So they have got a lot of bases covered and they would not want to let this opportunity slip knowing that it could be the last World Cup that a few of these guys play as well," he concluded.
Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Travelling Reserves: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short.
