Shan Masood with David Warner
- Warner bids adieu to Test cricket.
- Warner received a Babar Azam-sgned shirt from Masood.
- Warner’s teammates and the Pakistani team gave him a guard of honour.
David Warner received a Babar Azam-signed shirt from Pakistan captain Shan Masood as a thank-you after the Australian opener announced his retirement from Test cricket on Saturday.
While playing in his 112th Test match, Warner hugged his opening partner and childhood buddy, Usman Khawaja, at the boundary rope. The Pakistani team also presented him with a guard of honour as he approached the crease.
Despite missing out on the opportunity to score the game-winning runs in his last Test, Warner made 57 runs to help Australia defeat Pakistan by eight wickets and win the series 3-0 in Sydney. Australia had set a modest target of 130 runs.
As Warner walked off the field, the more than 22,000 spectators at his home Sydney Cricket Ground stood for a last round of applause.
After his debut against New Zealand in 2011, Warner’s innings brought his career total of 8,786 runs at an average of 44.59 in 112 Tests. He also had 26 hundreds.
“I owe credit to my parents for giving me a beautiful and great upbringing. My brother Steve, I followed in his footsteps. And then Candice [Warner’s wife] came along and sort of got me in line. We’ve had a beautiful family and I cherish every moment I get with them. I love them to death and I’m not going to keep carrying on because I’ll get too emotional. But thank you, Candice, for what you’ve done. You mean the world to me, and I appreciate it,” Warner said in an emotional speech after the match.
“I think it’d be quite emotional to watch the guys go out there and not play and knowing that I was able to come out here and do what I could do. But as I just mentioned you got a great bunch of cricketers here. We are all almost over 30 years of age. So as time goes by, we’re not getting younger, but this team, they’re energetic, they’re world class and they’re a great bunch of guys.
“[Would like to be remembered as] exciting, entertaining, and I hope I put a smile on everyone’s face with the way that I played and hopefully the young kids out there can follow in my footsteps.
“White ball cricket to Test cricket. It’s the pinnacle of our sport. So keep working hard to play the red ball game because it’s entertaining as well.”
