David Warner, The Serial Offender

Serial offender, aggressive, unapologetic and controversy's favourite child. Those are just some of the various titles associated with David Warner. The latest Warner incident involved Rohit Sharma where Warner (of all people) felt he needed to teach Rohit Sharma how to play in the spirit of the game, when the Indian opener had taken a single off an overthrow. An overthrow, which Warner believed to have become so because Rohit touched the ball when in reality the Mumbaiker hadn't touched it and was very much within his rights to sneak in a single. The ICC gave Warner yet another fine, and the Warner bashers, yet another crime to write about.

But does the Aussie's umpteenth enactment of 'in the moment fury' come as a surprise? For a man called the 'pocket dynamo', who stormed into international cricket without playing a single game of first class cricket, as the first Australian cricketer in 132 years to be selected for a national team in any format without experience in first-class cricket, his disregard for rules, the process, the system can be understood to some extent. For a man who burst onto the scene with an outrageous 89 off 43 on Twenty20 international debut against South Africa in 2009, Warner has always been a different breed. He didn't feel the need to follow all the rules. He is and has always been raw talent. A different animal.

The Australians seem to have cracked the Warner code. James Sutherland, Cricket Australia CEO, may tell the reporters 'I have told Warner he needs to stop looking for trouble'. However, it wouldn't be farfetched to believe that what's really being told to Warner in the dressing room is 'Go out there and be yourself', because the think tank knows what's needed to ignite the pocket dynamo.

Sure, there's a line nobody should cross. When Warner punched English cricketer Joe Root in a Birmingham bar, it got him nothing but boyish bragging rights. He was fined 11, 500 Aussie dollars and given a Champions Trophy suspension that also made him unavailable for the first 2 Ashes Tests. 3 weeks preceding that incident, he was fined 5750 Aussie dollars for a twitter tirade against journalists. Around this time he also skipped a first class game and was handed a suspension. Later, he would accuse South African wicket-keeper AB de Villiers of ball-tampering. The ICC would slap him with a fine. But did all of this really bother him? Did he really care enough to change?

He would return from all those raps on the knuckle, to score his first Ashes hundred in style and since then Warner has pulverized oppositions like South Africa, England and India raking up an astounding 9 centuries in 14 Tests.

In the IPL, playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Warner frustrated Zaheer Khan and learnt how to be softly reactive instead of being the proactive aggressor. He gestured to Zaheer with a finger on his lips to be quiet. He blew a kiss at Kieron Pollard. He was learning how to channel his energies, control his instincts and become a better cricketer. Progress. He cared, just enough to make slight changes. The mantra being 'controlled aggression'. In time he seems to be learning how to control and reserve the passion for the field.

Consider this, just last month, on the 4th day of the Adelaide Test, Warner responded to an overzealous celebration by Varun Aaron. Warner blew a kiss and did what Australians simply know how to do better than Indians, sledge. He went on to score his second century of the Test. Now, it may not be the best idea to talk back at him. It fires him up. It eggs him on. It's his bread and butter. He feeds on it.

Kiwi legend, Martin Crowe, has come down hard on Warner suggesting the cricketer isn't too far away from having a scuffle on the field.'

But then, Aussie wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has a contrarian view. He was quoted as saying, "Rascals win you competitions".

Perhaps, Warner is that bad boy that some in the Australian team believe, can win them tournaments.