David Warner VS Joe Root Controversy

With the legendary Ashes series in Cardiff just three days away, a volatile spark has seemingly ignited between the Australian hard-hitting batsman David Warner and the English vice-captain Joe Root.

In an interview to the Sunday Morning Herald, Warner stirred up the remains of a past Birmingham nightclub scuffle with Root in a vivid flashback to the 2013 Ashes.

The year marks the England’s Champion Trophy victory against Australia. What happened few hours later after the match remained a mystery in the cricketing world till today when the cat is finally out of the bag!

Apparently, Warner hit the sports headlines for making a “physical attack” on Root and got pronounced as a thug, following a suspension on his participation for the first two matches of 2013 Ashes.

While the Aussie cricketer apologized for the incident and never spoke of the tale later, he finally unleashed the real reason for his assault towards the England batsman.

Accusing him of “racial insensitivity”, Warner opened up in the interview that he took a lunge at Joe Root because he mocked the Muslim South African batsman Hashim Amla.

According to the report in the Sunday Morning Herald, “What set him off and triggered his lunge at Root, though, was the young Yorkshireman’s positioning of a green-and-gold wig on his chin, which Warner interpreted as mocking the South African batsman Hashim Amla.”

Though Warner appears regretful of his violent action, he explains that he got provoked by the“inappropriate racial behaviour” of the Englishman.

“A mate of mine was actually wearing (a wig) on top of his head like a Malinga wig, that’s what it was. He was wearing it on his head and (Root) decided to come in and take it off my mate’s head and start acting the way he did,” Warner disclosed in the interview.

Drunk on cocktails and vodka, Warner could not help taking a swing at Root and believed that he was poking fun of the Muslim beard, in general.

“And he probably didn’t mean anything by it. I probably let my aggression and alcohol take over there and probably made an excuse for me to go over there and actually take it off him”, Warner commented further.

What is more shocking is the Australian cricketer’s revelation that he found the fast-bowler of the England team, Steve Finn “asleep in the gutter” at the end of the ill-fated night.

But it is the response of Joe Root to Warner’s nostalgic tale that has fanned the flames higher between the two, just days before the Ashes kick-start.

Smashing down his accusations and labeling them as “ridiculous”, he vented it all out on Twitter.

With the ill-feeling between the two rivals in the air, let’s see how the upcoming Ashes series shapes up for Root and Warner as they come head-to-head in England Vs. Australia cricket play on Wednesday.