Sydney, Jan 1 (IANS): Ahead of David Warner set to play his final Test match when Australia play Pakistan at SCG on Wednesday, his opening partner and childhood friend Usman Khawaja was left touched over the left-handed batter getting emotional when speaking about him in the press conference.
“It is quite special and quite emotional; I haven’t seen that. You don’t see that side of Davey at all. Obviously, he doesn’t show you that side when he is playing. He is a fierce competitor. You see the Bull and you see him go out there and play hard and I have known him for a long time, and I know that side of him,” said Khawaja to Fox Cricket.
In 111 Tests since his debut in 2011, Warner has scored 8695 runs at an average of 44.6, including 26 fifties and 36 half-centuries, proving to snatch the game away from the opposition in quick time and being one of Australia’s most successful openers in the format.
Khawaja also touched upon how he’s feeling over Warner ending his Test and ODI careers.
“Playing together and being together for so long, the journey is bizarre, and one part of that journey is coming to an end. He has stopped playing Test cricket and One-day Internationals and he put so much time and effort into it and there is so much heart, soul and tears that go into it.”
“There are so many ups and downs and so much goes into it, I guess when you get to the realisation that it is coming to an end, especially being able to share that with a childhood friend. And now that we have our own kids it is weird when it comes full circle.”
“You look back on it and you get quite emotional thinking about it because you just think, how lucky are we to do this? Not only to play for Australia, but then to do it together it’s quite special,” he elaborated.
Khawaja went on to recall his memories with Warner as a cricket-playing kid who dreamt of playing for Australia and believes he hasn’t changed a bit from his childhood days. “He has that persona about him, he is a bit like Warnie, he is polarising. Like Warnie was and a lot of Australia loves Warnie.”
“There were a lot of people I grew up with who didn’t like Warnie and there were people sitting on either side, very polarising. Davey is the same. He is very polarising. You either love him or you don’t. There is nothing really in the middle. But I have known Davey for so long since we were five or six years old.”
“You can’t judge people from solely what happens on the field. You can’t judge people that you played against on the field. Unless you actually play with them and you are in that team and you get to know them, it is really hard to say, this is what this person is like because what happens on the field is so different to what people are like off the field.”
“Off the field, he is one of the most giving people I have ever met. He sits down with random people all the time and chats with them like an everyday Aussie bloke. You would have no idea that he is a Test cricketer and one of the greats of the game.”