Australia Need 'Natural Winners' Like Warner for World League Glory

As the curtain comes down on David Warner's illustrious international career at the 2024 T20 World League, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes the team will miss more than just his runs when the mercurial opener finally hangs up his boots.

Warner's stage-by-stage retirement from Australia duty will be complete when the team's campaign ends in the West Indies - barring an unlikely comeback in next year's Champions Trophy - following his final Test against Pakistan at the SCG earlier this year.

While the 37-year-old has endured a lean and injury-hit Ind T20 League campaign for Delhi Capitals, where Ponting served as head coach, his experience and pedigree in major tournaments means he remains central to Australia's hopes of a World T20 League triumph.

"He's the sort of character you want to have around your team, especially in big tournaments like World Leagues," Ponting told reporters from New York. "And he's just one of those natural winners. Everything he does, he wants to win. You can see that with his attitude on the field and the way he goes about his cricket."

If Australia do end up holding trophies in all three formats at the same time, Warner could be one of just four players - alongside Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Travis Head - to have played in all three finals.

Ponting is confident the "extreme talent" of Jake Fraser-McGurk, who will be a travelling reserve during the World T20 League, can step up to fill the void left by Warner's departure. But he acknowledges it will be no easy task.

"It's going to be a really big set of shoes to fill, there's no doubt about that. They have got a lot of depth there. I'd be very surprised if he [Fraser-McGurk] doesn't go straight into the T20 team when David's finally done."

As Australia embark on their quest for a historic clean sweep of global silverware, Ponting believes the current crop of players recognize the magnitude of the opportunity at hand.

"It's a really good group of players and it's starting to get spoken about a little bit more," he said. "Certainly, even internally, you hear a lot of the players in these current teams [are] actually recognizing and talking about how lucky they are and what a special team that they know that they are playing in."

With experienced leaders like Cummins and Mitchell Marsh at the helm, Ponting is confident Australia will leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of an elusive World T20 League title to complement their Test and ODI dominance.

"They have got a lot of bases covered and they won't want to let this opportunity slip knowing that it could be the last World T20 League that a few of these guys play as well."