Veteran Australian opener Usman Khawaja has played along with David Warner since the age-group level and they have many memories as well. And, Khawaja hilariously recalled how mischievous Warner was growing up. During tea intervals in the games, they used to take cherries and stain other kids’ clothes as well knowing that it would be difficult to clean up the shir as well.
Speaking to Fox Cricket, Usman Khawaja said: “Davey was an absolute menace. He was a terror as a kid honestly. One of the stories I bring up all the time that I love was we used to have tea time and he always gravitated towards the cherries. He is a smart man and he knows those cherries stain. So we would pick up a cherry and chuck it at other people and teammates and the mum’s would be blowing up at the end of the day because they couldn’t get these cherry stains off. It is impossible to get cherry stains off.”
Veteran batter Usman Khawaja also compared Australian opener David Warner’s personality with the late Shane Warne. Just like Warne, Warner also faced mixed opinions from the cricketing fraternity for several reasons.
READ MORE: “I want to play cricket for as long as I can” – Nathan Lyon
He added: “He (Warner) has that persona about him, he is a bit like Warnie, he is polarising. Like Warnie was and a lot of Australia loves Warnie. There was a lot of people I grew up with who didn’t like Warnie and there were people sitting on either side, very polarising. Davey is the same. He is very polarising. You either love him or you don’t. There is nothing really in the middle.”
Because of David Warner’s on-field aggression and attitude, Usman Khawaja believes he is similar off the field as well. However, Khawaja opined on how helpful and humble Warner is as a person.
He said, “Off the field he is one of the most giving people I have ever met. He sits down with random people all the time and just chats to them like an everyday Aussie bloke. You would have no idea that he is a Test cricketer and one of the greats of the game. He is the first person I see whether it is family or friends, he is like what do you want? I will get it for you. What do you need? I will do this or that for you.”
READ MORE: Virat Kohli shares the importance of maintaining diet
“If I was ever in trouble he would be one of the first people I would call because I know he would be the first one to answer and the first one to help me out. He is that kind of guy and that is the side you don’t see of him and he doesn’t show that to a lot of people, so people just see what they see on the field and make up their minds, which is fair enough. But you don’t know the real David Warner behind the scenes. He can be quite rough even off the field, but deep down inside there is a really good human in there,” Usman Khawaja concluded.
