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The Whole Of India Is In Love With Dave Warner, Which Nobody Saw Coming

The Whole Of India Is In Love With Dave Warner, Which Nobody Saw Coming
It's kind of taken him aback too.
DIBYANGSHU SARKAR via Getty Images
It's kind of taken him aback too.

Well, this is all a bit of a surprise.

Dave Warner scored 126 off 59 balls overnight for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. He reached 100 in 43 balls, the fifth quickest century in the 10 year history of the world's premier Twenty20 competition.

This was all very spectacular and Dave Warneresque, but it was in the realm of things you might expect to happen, because we all know how Warner can bat when he's in the mood.

The surprising thing was the mood of the Indian public. In short, Indians love Warner. They absolutely adore him. Here's just one small piece of evidence from VVS Laxman -- the former Indian batsman who famously tormented Australia with an innings of 281 in 2001.

The love came thick and fast from other cricketers, including Indian captain Virat Kohli.

Warner did his best to acknowledge the goodwill, which was nice.

This is one heck of a turnaround. You may recall that in the recent Test series in India which preceded the IPL, Warner struggled both for runs and respect from the Indian cricket establishment.

Indian cricket's governing body, the BCCI, actually made a video in which senior Indian players mocked Warner and Australian captain Steve Smith. Now powerful Indian figures are falling over themselves to praise him.

Warner's Sunrisers sit third on the IPL ladder, and will make the playoffs. After this tournament, Warner will join Australia's One Day team to play the ICC Champions Trophy in England and Wales.

Warner will very likely experience a huge a reality check the moment he touches down at Heathrow. In a 2015 newspaper list, Warner was named one of the world's most hated sportsmen. Not much has changed in England since then.

Meanwhile, in largely unrelated news, one of Davey's daughters has matching iPad and pants, which we thought was kinda cute.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.