David Warner may not play ODI cricket again, but his has been a career to celebrate, and will leave behind memories to cherish.

Halfway through 2022, David Warner had declared that the home series against Pakistan would be his last in Test cricket. Now, ahead of his final Test match, he announced retirement from ODIs as well.

A modern-day great

Warner’s numbers – 6,932 runs at 45.30 and a strike rate of 97 – put him in the pantheon of modern-day greats of the format. No Australian has scored more ODI runs at a greater average.

It is not about Australians alone. Barring AB de Villiers (9,577 runs at 53.50 and 101), no one beats Warner on all three parameters – runs, average, and strike rate.

Even if one removes the restriction on average, de Villiers, Shahid Afridi, and Virender Sehwag are the only ones with more runs and strike rate than Warner.

Warner’s 22 hundreds are the joint tenth-most in history and the second-most among Australians, after Ricky Ponting’s 29. While opening batting, only Sachin Tendulkar (45), Rohit Sharma (29), Sanath Jayasuriya (28), Hashim Amla (27), and Chris Gayle has more.

Scoring big

Warner reached fifty 55 times, but converted 22 of them (40 percent) to hundreds. This is the third-best conversion ratio among batters with as many fifty-plus scores, after Virat Kohli (41 percent – 50 out of 122) and Hashim Amla (40.9 percent – 27 out of 66).

What also sets Warner apart is his ability to convert even his hundreds. He never went past that 179 against Pakistan at Adelaide in 2016/17, but that was after scores of 163, 178, 173 and before 166 and, as recently as in the 2023 World Cup, 163. He is, in fact, the only batter with six ODI scores in excess of 160.

At the biggest stage

Three of Warner’s above-mentioned 160s came at the World Cup – 178 against Afghanistan in 2015, 166 against Bangladesh in 2019, and 163 against Pakistan in 2023. These are the second-, fourth-, and fifth-highest scores by an Australian at the World Cup. Before the 2023 World Cup, Warner held the top two spots.

Warner’s six hundreds are the most for Australia at the World Cup as well, though he is tied at the top for most fifty-plus scores (11) with Ponting and Steve Smith. His 41 sixes are behind only Glenn Maxwell’s 41, but no one matches his 154 fours.

Even at global level, Warner has the sixth-most runs, joint second-most hundreds, and fourth-most sixes at the World Cup. Only Rohit (1,575 runs at 60.57 and 105) has more runs at a better average and strike rate than Warner (1,527 at 56.55 and 101).

When the going gets tough

Perhaps the most singular trait of Warner’s ODI career was his ability to perform against the toughest oppositions. Against England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and South Africa, Warner has made 4,935 runs at 44.06 and 99, very similar numbers to his career average.

No one matches all three numbers against the top six oppositions (Australia make up the full set), though de Villiers (52.52 and 97) and Kohli (53.81 and 92) have amassed more runs per dismissal, albeit at slower pace.

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