David Warner was one of three Australian players charged in the infamous “Sandpapergate scandal” that occurred in the Cape Town Test in March 2018. He, along with Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, were the other Australian cricketers accused of that episode.

As a result, Cricket Australia banned Smith and Warner from international cricket for 12 months, while Bancroft was banned for nine months. Warner was even banned from playing in that IPL that year.

However, once the ban ended, Warner returned as a very different cricketer, hungry for runs and success at the international level. He scored 647 runs in the 2019 Cricket World Cup and followed it up with 535 runs in the 2023 Cricket World Cup, leading his team to its sixth World Cup title.

Speaking to a radio station called SEN Sportsday NSW, Simon Katich, the former Australian cricketer, said it would be wrong to blame David Warner for the entire incident.

“I think it’s hard to say ‘full respect’ because I think there will always be an element of the public that didn’t like what happened, and rightly so,” Katich told SEN Sportsday NSW.

“Many of us couldn’t believe what the Australian team resorted to. But I think blaming him for that whole episode is quite naive,” he added.

Smith and Warner have scored many runs in all formats since their return to international cricket. Bancroft, on the other hand, didn’t have much of a chance. Katich was also impressed by how Warner returned to playing international cricket at the highest level despite all the criticism from the Sandpapergate scandal.

“At the time, I think what he did was keep his mouth shut after the initial apology and then carried on trying to get back to playing cricket as best he could. That wouldn’t have been easy to do. What’s done is done, but for David to be able to come back to where he came from after an event as huge as it was in Cape Town… it was significant to think that he was able to come back and play some good cricket after that event.” Katich said.

Australia are off to a great start in David Warner’s final Test match. Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat. The Australian pacers, led by their skipper Pat Cummins, have not allowed Pakistan to settle down and are now on the verge of being eliminated with a below-par score in Sydney.

David Warner asks his fans to find his lost Baggy Green

Unfortunately, Warner lost his Baggy Green cap heading into the Sydney test during transit. He made a request on social media to his fans about it and asked them to return it to him.

“Inside this backpack was my Baggy Greens,” Warner said in a video posted to his social media Tuesday afternoon. It’s sentimental to me. It’s something I’d love to get my hands on this week. If it’s the backpack you really wanted, I have a spare one here. You won’t get into trouble. Please contact Cricket Australia or me via my social media channels. “I’m happy to give you this if you return my Baggy Green,” Waner said in a video posted on his official Instagram account.

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