'I love the person I have turned into'

David Warner has not drunk alcohol since May 20, 2015.

When he revealed the fact to a group of journalists last Sunday in Hyderabad, they found it hard to believe.

"It helps having not drank for a year," Warner said. "It is about being smart about recovery, about doing all the little things right to have a successful career from when I turn 30."

It is a bit of an eye-opener - not so much the fact of brash Warner staying sober for a year as the notion of him talking about planning for the future and doing things to make sure he reaches the milestones he has set for himself.

Warner spoke with clarity and purpose about himself, his team-mates and his opponents. He spoke about the various roles he is juggling: captain, parent, children's book author, opening batsman.

"My best attribute in this game is actually being aggressive at the top of the order," he said about his mindset when he goes out to open in Test cricket. "It is about the intent to score. That is probably why I have been successful so far, because I haven't gone into my shell where I have looked to defend in Test cricket."

If other players like to get themselves in by letting balls go, Warner settles down by "always looking to score" before he starts defending. That has helped him establish himself pretty quickly after having forced his way into the Australian top order by showcasing a brand of batting that few in the history of cricket have possessed.

Warner is the first player to have walked into the Australian Test dressing room via T20. He plays all three formats in the same way and so does not find it hard to adapt. But how does he adjust mentally to the time factor, a key parameter in T20 cricket?

"As an opening batsman I know we have 120 balls. When I am batting, if I can face half of those deliveries, I am doing my job for the team. The crucial thing is to get off to a good start. In this game, it is funny - it has got a lot more time than you think. If you [get your eye in] in the first six to ten overs, you still have 60 balls. That is a lot of time. It is not about hitting fours and sixes straightaway.

"Perfect example is Virat Kohli. He knows he probably he can't be like Chris Gayle or AB de Villiers. But he is a conventional player. He plays very good cricket shots. He gives himself time. He comes down the wicket and hits over cover and midwicket all the time. That is his strength. He knows his game so well. That is where a lot of players can learn from him - who don't have that power and the capacity to clear the ropes all the time."

At Sunrisers Hyderabad, Warner is captain, opener, and best batsman. In their solitary win so far in this IPL, he made an unbeaten 90, chasing down the modest target set by Mumbai Indians. In their first match of the tournament, he blasted a characteristic half-century to set the platform for Sunrisers to challenge the mammoth 227 set by Kolhli's Royal Challengers Bangalore. They lost by 45 runs. Then Kolkata Knight Riders inflicted further wounds, knocking down Sunrisers without a struggle.

Warner's IPL history shows he has tasted more defeats than wins with the two teams he has played for: Delhi Daredevils and now Sunrisers. He has won eight and lost 11 of the 19 matches in which he has led in the IPL.

He admits it is not easy to take repeated defeats. "It hurts more now that we don't win as much as we had planned. You go, 'How can we do this better, how can we do that better', whereas as a player you go back and reflect on your own game.

"As a captain you are worrying about everything else, but you've still got to worry about your own game. It is tough, but you have to be a strong person to make sure that everyone is galvanising together and going in the right direction. It is easy to mope around and not talk about it, but when you express the feelings to everyone and keep it in the group, it goes a long way."

The senior leadership, Tom Moody, the head coach, and VVS Laxman, the batting consultant, are always in Warner's ear, as was evident during the Mumbai match. Warner can also pick the brains of his experienced team-mates, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and England T20 captain Eoin Morgan.

It is not easy for an overseas player to be leading an Indian franchise where the majority of the players are locals. Shane Warne proved successful in such a role, earning the respect and admiration of his team during Rajasthan Royals' fairy-tale years. He and Warner are separated not just by one letter in their names but also by their personalities, their back stories, their deeds. One area where both are on the same page is their aggressive mindset when leading.

"It is about encouraging the player," Warner says about how he teaches intent to his younger team-mates. "You have to keep encouraging people to a certain degree, but you have to be hard sometimes. You have to pull 'em back and say, 'Look, this is what I think you should probably be working on, you are doing too much of this.'

"An example would be: we go into the nets and we face spin bowlers and try and hit every ball for a six. You go into the games and don't do that. If you are going to go into the nets and practise properly, then I'm very happy with that. But make sure whatever you do at practice, you take into the game. That is what I want this team to do."

This from the man whom Greg Chappell and Troy Cooley warned more than once when he played for Australia A about being too carefree with his bat in the nets and lacking the purpose his coaches wanted him to train with. The man who, till recently, was high on the ICC's list of serial offenders.

Warner's transformation has not gone unnoticed. Earlier in the year, he pipped Steven Smith to the Allan Border Medal. And former Australia opener Matthew Hayden, the man whose big boots Warner has successfully managed to fill, reckons Warner will soon become the best opening batsman in Test cricket.

Hayden is a legend in Warner's eyes because he managed to play 103 Tests and was averaging a "ridiculous" 58 at one point before retiring with 50.73. "If you can play 100 Tests, I consider you a legend. Test cricket - that's what it is all about. I love playing the game. If you are playing there to win, the records will be there at the end. We play as a team. We keep winning series. You keep scoring runs, the team is going a long way, and your individual success you reflect on once you finish, because that will be there if you are doing your bit for the team."

Individual success Warner has his share of: 16 Test centuries in 51 Tests. Now, on the cusp of turning 30, his priorities are clear. "Test cricket should be the pinnacle. Winning World Cups and one-day games for your country is the pinnacle. Then T20 cricket is a bonus. If you can manufacture and execute in T20 cricket, you can play one-day and Test cricket. I want to make sure youngsters are inspired to play for their country at the top level, and I think the top level is Test cricket. We need to keep Test cricket surviving, otherwise the other stuff does not work."

Warner wants to be in the league of Ponting, Hayden, Langer and other Australian legends. Trent Woodhill, who has known Warner since 2007, and has worked as his personal coach as well with Daredevils in the IPL, believes he is on his way to getting there. "Once you are comfortable with who you are and what you do, then you are always a better version of yourself. Once David was comfortable with the way he approached his game and was very aware of the best way to do that, then everything else began to fall into place.

"Now he has a real balance to his life: from fitness to nutrition to family to batting to preparation to playing for his country to playing for Sunrisers. He is never going to be out of form for that long and he is going to be successful, and thus he is going to be a good leader and a role model, which he is."

Woodhill confirms that Warner has been putting a lot of time and effort into reforming his image, working on the way he speaks, when he speaks. "It is not a mask. It is genuine. He has always wanted to help people," he says.

"I probably have seen less change in him than others because I have always seen that side to him. It is almost given as an Australian that you have to be aggressive, you have to be punchy, you have to be this real firebrand on the field.

"I reckon this next generation of Australian cricketers [thinks] that's not them. And that is more to do with society, which has become less tolerant of brashness, especially when it is not natural. What we are seeing with David is, he is just being who he is - someone who wants to win, but also who is a great father and enjoys spending time with his family."

Warner has two young daughters, who he says don't obey him, so it is difficult to compare the roles of a father and a captain. "At almost two years of age, when you say something, they don't do it. That is the difference," he says with a smile.

Still, his family life has played a big role in his cricket. "It has really encouraged me to be a different person in the sense of being a role model for my daughters, trying to be a role model for kids in general, trying to be a leader with the guys here, trying to make everything simple. Because we can complicate things in life, and with cricket we can complicate a very simple game - we bat, we bowl, we field and we practise.

"Two beautiful daughters and having a caring wife has settled me down a lot. It has helped me be the person who I am today. We go back to 2013 [when] I made a lot of mistakes - in my life, away from cricket, there were things going on that never needed to be expressed, but you get through those times. And I came out the other end very, very good. I love the person I have turned into."