David Andrew Warner (born 27 October 1986) is an Australian former international cricketer, captain of Big Bash League team Sydney Thunder and captain of Pakistan Super League team Karachi Kings. A left-handed opening batter, Warner was the first Australian cricketer in 132 years to be selected for the national team in any format without experience in first-class cricket. He captained Australia in ODIs and T20Is and served as a vice-captain across formats before his suspension and played his domestic cricket for New South Wales Cricket Team. Warner was a prominent member of the victorious Australian squad of the 2015 Cricket World Cup, the 2021 T20 World Cup, where he was the Player of the Tournament, the 2021–2023 ICC World Test Championship, and the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. Warner also guided Indian Premier League team Sunrisers Hyderabad to their first and only IPL title, becoming the third Australian captain after Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne to do so. Warner holds the record of the most international centuries as an opening batsman across all international formats. He also holds the record for most 50+ scores in T20 cricket.
In January 2017, he became the fourth player to win the Allan Border Medal more than once and to win the award in consecutive years. On 28 September 2017, he played in his 100th One Day International (ODI).
In March 2018, following a preliminary investigation into ball tampering by the Australian team in the third match of their Test series against South Africa, Warner was suspended and charged with bringing the game into disrepute. Following a board meeting later in the month, Cricket Australia banned Warner from all international and domestic cricket in Australia for one year, and from any leadership positions permanently. The ban on leadership positions was lifted on 18 October 2024.
In January 2024, Warner played his final Test match for Australia and also announced his retirement from ODI cricket. On 25 June 2024, Warner announced his retirement from international cricket after Australia's exit from the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
Early life David Warner was born on 27 October 1986 in Paddington, a suburb in eastern Sydney. At the age of 13, he was asked by his coach to switch to right-handed batting because he kept hitting the ball in the air. However his mother, Lorraine Warner (née Orange), encouraged him to return to batting left-handed and he broke the under-16's run-scoring record for the Sydney Coastal Cricket Club. He then made his first grade debut for the Eastern Suburbs club at the age of 15 and later toured Sri Lanka with the Australian under-19s and earned a rookie contract with the state team. Warner grew up in a housing commission estate in Matraville in Sydney's south-east and attended Matraville Public School and Randwick Boys High School.
Domestic career
On 29 November 2008, Warner hit his first domestic One Day century for New South Wales with a score of 165* against Tasmania at Hurstville Oval in Sydney. This innings got him the record of the highest one day score by a Blues player. In the reverse fixture at Hobart, he backed it up with a 54-ball 97 to narrowly miss the record for the fastest ever century in Australian domestic cricket.
Warner made his first-class debut playing for New South Wales against Western Australia in the final match of the 2008–09 Sheffield Shield season at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 5–8 March 2009. Batting only once and coming in at number six in the batting order, Warner scored 42 runs off 48 deliveries.
While playing for New South Wales, Warner broke the record for the highest Australian one-day domestic score. His score of 197 came off just 141 balls and included 20 fours and 10 sixes, surpassing Jimmy Maher's previous record of 187.
Big Bash League In 2009, Warner set a new record for the fastest half-century scored in the Australian domestic Twenty20 cricket, completing his 50 in 18 balls against Tasmania. In the first season of the newly revamped Big Bash League, Warner was named as captain for the Sydney Thunder and scored 102 not out from 51 balls in his first match for the team. Warner played for Sydney Sixers in 2012–13 season.
Warner returned to the BBL in 2022 with the Sydney Thunder. He was named captain of the Thunder in November 2024. He was named in the Team of the Tournament for BBL14 after scoring 346 runs.
Indian Premier League Warner has been one of the most successful overseas batsmen in the Indian Premier League, scoring over 6,000 runs and winning the Orange Cap award for the highest scoring batter in a season three times.
Warner was signed by Delhi Daredevils in 2009, playing for the team until 2013.Big hitting Blues batsman hits the jackpot 17 December 2008 – 12:53 pm Following the 2014 IPL auction, however, he moved to Sunrisers Hyderabad for US$880,000. In 2015, he was appointed captain of the team and ended the season as the tournament's leading run scorer.
He continued as captain in 2016, leading the team to its first championship, scoring 69 runs from 38 balls in the final against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Warner finished the season with 848 runs, the second highest in the tournament. In 2017, Warner scored 126 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders, breaking his previous career highest IPL score of 109 not out. He finished the season as the leading run scorer, and was awarded the Orange cap for the second time.
After having been named as captain again for the 2018 season, Warner stepped down from the role following the ball tampering affair in South Africa, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India banned him from playing during the season. He returned to the team in 2019, scoring 85 runs in his first match before scoring an unbeaten century against Royal Challengers Bangalore two days later. He finished the season as the leading run scorer with 692 runs despite leaving the team after due to Australia's World Cup preparations.
In February 2020, Warner was reinstated as captain, replacing Kane Williamson. In October, he became the first overseas player and fourth overall to score over 5,000 runs in the IPL, achieving the milestone in 135 innings, the fastest to do so. In 2021 Warner was replaced as captain by Williamson after six matches, with the team winning only one match. In the second stage of the tournament, he was dropped from the team after two matches. The team's assistant coach Brad Haddin later revealed that the decision to drop him was not a cricket decision.
Hyderabad chose not to retain Warner ahead of the 2022 IPL auction, and he was bought by Delhi Capitals for . He finished the season as Delhi's top run-scorer with 432 runs. In 2023, he captained Delhi following an injury to Rishabh Pant. He once again finished as the highest run scorer for the team with 516 runs. In the following 2024 season, which marked effectively his last in the IPL, Warner had a disappointing campaign, scoring only 168 runs across 8 matches with a single half-century, and was benched several times. After this season, he was released by the Delhi Capitals and went unsold in the 2025 IPL auction. He chose not to register for the 2026 IPL auction.
Other T20 cricket Warner has played In England for Durham and Middlesex County Cricket Clubs. In 2018 he captained Winnipeg Hawks in the first season of the Global T20 Canada tournament and in 2019 played in the Bangladesh Premier League for Sylhet Sixers. In November 2023, David Warner was rumored to join Lahore Qalandars with his inclusion in the 2024 Pakistan Super League draft. In the 2025 Pakistan Super League, David Warner joined Karachi Kings as their captain and led them to the playoffs where Lahore Qalandars beat them.
On 11 February 2026, the first-ever Pakistan Super League auction was held where Warner was one of the biggest names in pool. He was signed by Karachi Kings for a mega price of PKR 7.90 crore.
International career Debut years
Warner made his international debut for Australia in a Twenty20 International against South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 11 January 2009. Warner was the first man since 1877 to represent Australia without having played in a first-class match. He made an immediate impact, scoring 89 off 43 balls with 7 fours and 6 sixes, including the then second-fastest fifty in Twenty20 International history. His 89 was the second highest score on Twenty20 international debut.
He made his Test debut on 1 December 2011 against New Zealand at Brisbane, Queensland in the first Test of the Trans-Tasman Trophy due to an injury to Shane Watson. He made three runs in the first innings. In the second innings he scored 12 not out off four balls, scoring the winning runs with a pull shot through mid on.
On 23 February 2010, playing a Twenty20 international against the West Indies at the Sydney Cricket Ground, he made 67 off just 29 balls. His 50 came in just 18 balls, breaking his old record of 19.
Start of good form Warner scored his maiden Test century on 12 December 2011 in Australia's unsuccessful run chase against New Zealand in Hobart. Warner made 123* in his team's second innings total of 233. In doing so he became just the sixth person to carry his bat through the fourth innings of a Test match. Warner bowls right arm leg-break and on his first delivery in Test cricket, the ball was dropped in the outfield denying Warner a maiden Test wicket.
On 13 January 2012, in only his fifth Test match, Warner scored a 69-ball century against India at the WACA. At the time, this equalled West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul for the fourth fastest Test century of all time, in terms of balls faced. He ultimately built his innings to a score of 180 from 159 balls, setting a new personal high score in Test cricket.
Warner scored 163 off 157 balls at the Gabba on 4 March 2012 in the first final of the CB Series against Sri Lanka. He batted until the last ball of the innings. It was his first ODI hundred for Australia. He followed it up with 100 and 48 in the other two finals at the Adelaide Oval. Warner's aggregate of 311 runs was the highest ever for the finals of an Australian Tri-Series, surpassing Greg Chappell's 266 runs in 1981.
During the 2015 Cricket World Cup, Warner started the World Cup decently by scoring 22 against England and 34 against New Zealand. But in their fourth match against Afghanistan, he scored 178 runs off 133 balls, which became his highest score in ODIs, helped Australia to score the highest team total in any World Cup and the highest in Australia. Warner ended up as the tournament's 11th highest scorer, scoring 345 runs at an average of 49.28.
Warner was one of Australia's better players during the 2015 Ashes in which Australia lost 3–2. Despite not registering a century, Warner scored 418 runs during the series, the fourth highest run-scorer behind Steve Smith, Chris Rogers and Joe Root. During the one-day series in England, bowler Steve Finn hit Warner's thumb, breaking it. This meant Warner took no part in the rest of the series and the scheduled series to Bangladesh which did not take place due to security issues.
In 2016, Warner had a reversal of form, scoring more runs in ODIs than Tests. Nevertheless, he still scored his 5,000th Test run and 3,000th home Test run against Pakistan on 28 December 2016.
Records and achievements Warner was the first Australian cricketer in 132 years to be selected for a national team in any format without experience in first-class cricket. He is the first Australian batsman to score 7 ODI centuries in a calendar year.