David Warner was a vital cog in the Australian team that won the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 in November, last year. The Aussies won their record sixth ODI World Cup title, beating hosts India in the final.

Warner has been a part of the Indian Premier League for over a decade and he credited the T20 league for his national team’s ICC triumph. David Warner has represented Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Delhi Capitals in his IPL career, playing over 180 matches.

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David Warner admits that Indian Premier League experience helped in 2023 World Cup triumph

The southpaw called India his ‘second home’ as he admitted the Australians knew about the Indian conditions due to their experience of playing in the IPL for so many years.

Speaking on Ashwin’s YouTube channel, Warner said,

India is definitely a second home. I recall speaking before the CWC Final, that the venue had only been played on a couple of times by both teams (India and Australia). It was almost a neutral venue, minus the 100000 Indian supporters in the stadium, Warner told Ashwin on his Youtube channel. 

Being a part of the IPL definitely helps, practicing on the wickets. Be it Tests or the white-ball cricket, IPL definitely helps. You understand the ground and the pitches – red soil, brown soil, is it going to turn in the first innings, where is it going to turn in the second innings – it gives us a lot of understanding.

We got a lot of experience in the team. The win (in the final) was not by chance, but by our own (past) experience, Warner said during the podcast with Ravi Ashwin.

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While speaking on Australia’s mindset ahead of the 2023 World Cuop final, the player added, 

Our gameplan for the CWC Final was structured around the MCG – hit the pockets, and run the twos, while batting. While bowling, bowl it to the chest (of the batter), and target the long boundaries. We had an Australian gameplan inside India. That’s how we did it, Warner recalled Australia’s gameplan for the ODI World Cup 2023 Final. 

Once you have played the game for a long time, you negate the crowd at the stadium. You do not have the sense of crowd being there. Indians have support in Australia too, and we (Australia) are used to it when we play against you (India). We did not have anything to lose. Since 2009 (Warner’s IPL debut), I have understood the wickets and the venues.