‘If at all David Warner was thinking about Test retirement, he should have done it after SCG game’ – Ponting

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting feels David Warner missed out on a chance of retiring from Tests, if at all it was on his mind, on a high. Ponting feels struggling Warner should have hanged his boots from this format following the final home Test against South Africa at the SCG early this year, after he had scored a double hundred in his previous match in Melbourne that also happened to be his 100th Test.

Nursing an injury he sustained during the Delhi Test, Warner is currently home and will not return for the final Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series, scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad on March 9th.

Speaking on the ICC Review Podcast, Ponting said he thought about this scenario a little while back and felt Warner would now probably have to wait for another 12 months for an opportunity to say goodbye to this format in front of his home crowd.

“Look, I was on radio a couple of days ago, back here in Australia, and I thought the absolute best time for Davey to retire, if he was thinking about it at all, was after the Sydney Test match here in Australia,” Ponting told the ICC Review podcast.

“He’d just played his 100th Test in Melbourne, and obviously got 200 in the first innings down there. And to bow out in front of his home crowd is obviously the way that every player would like to finish their careers. Who knows now that opportunity might not come around again for Davey, you know. That’s nearly another 12 months away,” Ponting added.

Warner, 36, clearly struggles to put runs on the board in away conditions, especially in India and England (where he averages 26.04 from 13 Tests).

Despite such mediocre numbers, Ponting still feels Warner will play in the WTC final, scheduled for June 7th at the Oval in London against either of India or Sri Lanka. The three-time ICC World Cup winner, Ponting is of the further opinion that WTC final will further determine if Warner is ready and is in form to play the Ashes or not.

“I think they’ll definitely want to play him in the World Test Championship match. They have got some really big decisions to make, leading into the Ashes as well. A bit like some of the selection issues they had coming to India,” Ponting said. “They’re probably going to have similar things to think about when they get to the UK because David’s record in the UK is not as strong as it is in some other places around the world.”

Warner will, however, return for the ODI series against India that begins on March 17th in Mumbai.