5 Cricketers who lifted themselves after massive controversies and heartbreaks

2. David Warner

David Warner, Steve Smith’s teammate and former vice-captain, was alleged of being behind the Australian team’s ball-tampering action. As a result, he was banned for a year from all forms of international and domestic cricket, as well as from holding any leadership responsibilities. Because of the BCCI’s ban, he was forced to not play for SRH in the IPL 2018.

His retort sounded better than his involvement in the controversy. In the IPL, he returned to competitive cricket and led Sunrisers Hyderabad to the playoffs. In the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, he became Australia’s highest run scorer, trailing only Rohit Sharma in the tournament’s run-scoring race.

In 2021, the southpaw suffered a slump in form and subsequently was removed from the captaincy and then the playing XI from the SRH team. He had a terrible run of form going into the T20 World Cup, but he absolutely redeemed himself in the event, scoring key runs for Australia in the knockout stages.

Warner was named the ‘Player of the Tournament’ for his astounding performances which led Australia to it’s maiden T20 World Cup title. His return was even more impressive, and it will be intriguing to watch how he maintains his form in the future.