In the few weeks immediately after he was banned for his role in the ball tampering scandal during Australia's Test against South Africa in Cape Town last year, David Warner felt like not even getting off the bed.
Wednesday, however, he felt like he was back on top of the world after scoring his first hundred for the Aussies in two years, also at a World Cup. The left-hander scored 107 as Australia defeated Pakistan by 41 runs in their ICC World Cup encounter at the County Ground at Taunton.
He was full of praise for his wife Candice after his match-winning innings.
“I was always coming back to international cricket if selected. The thing that kept me going was my wife and two young kids. I got great support at home from the family. My wife at home, she’s been my rock - she’s unbelievable, disciplined, selfless," Warner said.
“I hold a lot of credit to her, she’s a strong woman. She got me out of bed a lot in those first 12 weeks and got me back running and training as hard as I could. Just to maintain my level of fitness and hard work, she nailed that into me."
Warner admitted, however, that he was worried he might have not gotten another hundred for his country.
“Yes, definitely, there was always that going through my mind,” nodded the left-hander when asked about the possibility that his hundred in the Boxing Day Test against England in December 2017 might have been his last in the baggy green.
“That’s what drove me to keep being as fit as I can, to keep scoring as many runs as I can in the Twenty20 tournaments I played in, and really enjoy playing in grade cricket.
“I think to go through these tough times and regrouping put myself in the best way to come back into international cricket. Personally, of course, it’s a great thing to get this hundred. Obviously, it’s been a long time coming.”