Srinagar: Australia opener David Warner had a fairytale ferewell to his Test Career as he scored fifty in his last Test inning to lead Australia to a win vs Pakistan in Sydney Test and then saw himself receiving a grand farewell from fans and Pakistan side in Sydney which included a Babar Azam shirt signed by all Pakistan squad members.
Earlier while coming into bat in his 112th and final Test match, Warner shared a hug with opening partner and childhood friend Usman Khawaja at the boundary rope and was given a guard of honour by Pakistan team as he made his way to the crease.
Warner didn’t get the chance to hit the match-winning runs in his final Test but contributed 57 as Australia easily chased down a modest target of 130 runs to beat Pakistan by eight wickets and sweep the series 3-0 in Sydney.
A crowd of more than 22,000 at his home Sydney Cricket Ground rose for a final ovation as Warner left the field.
Warner’s innings gave him a career tally of 8,786 runs in 112 Tests at an average of 44.59 with 26 centuries since his debut against New Zealand in 2011.
Later during presentation, Pakistan skipper Shan Masood presented Warner a signed Babar Azam shirt as gesture for retiring from Test Cricket.
“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.”