As he trudged off a febrile Chinnaswamy Stadium, a disgusted David Warner punched his bat – not for the first time during an increasingly drab Indian Premier League season for the under-pressure Delhi Capitals captain.

He had moments earlier in the crux match against Royal Challengers Bangalore been caught off the toe of the bat after mistiming a pull shot. It was an ugly dismissal that had left a frustrated Warner analyzing his bat in disbelief as if he was trying to find something faulty with the willow.

The optics of his dismissal were bad with Warner in his pomp such a devastating player of cross bat shots. But as we’re painfully reminded of most times he’s at the crease these days, Warner’s peak years are well behind as one would suspect for a batter turning 37 later in the year.

Warner is actually one of the leading run-scorers in the tournament and had scored three half-centuries in four games, but at a sluggish strike-rate of 114.8. The big-hitter had remarkably not hit a six this season.

He had looked completely out of sorts in the previous match against Mumbai Indians and let his frustrations out by punching his bat upon reaching a dreary half-century from just 43 balls. Warner had been looking for a revival against Virat Kohli’s RCB and he briefly recaptured the form that made him an unstoppable force over many years.

He cracked four boundaries in five balls in an attempt to lead a rally after Delhi had started disastrously chasing 175. But his ungainly dismissal on 19 followed by a now common sight of unleashing punishment on his well-worn bat increases pressure on Warner.

Right now, he’s enduring a miserable IPL season individually and as skipper of winless Delhi anchored at the bottom with five losses. Bigger picture, his patchy showing in a tournament he’s long dominated further puts strain on his uncertain Test future.

Warner has struggled in recent years in the Test format, but publicly vowed to keep playing until 2024. The logical decision would have been for him to retire at the end of the last Australian season after making a memorable double century against South Africa at the MCG and with the summer finale played in his hometown of Sydney.

It loomed as a fairy-tale finish, but rarely do great athletes end on a high. Their unwavering self-confidence is the foundation of their success, but also usually means they can’t see the writing on the wall.

The pugnacious Warner is a case in point and he’s going to keep believing until given the tap on the shoulder.

It’s unclear where he figures in the plans of Australia’s hierarchy ahead of June’s World Test Championship Final against India and then the blockbuster Ashes series.

Warner’s standing – he’s one of Australia’s greatest batters and arguably the best opener in Test cricket over the past decade – means it’s a tough dilemma for the selectors.

He appears almost assured of playing against India, but is no guarantee of an Ashes berth heightened by fringe opener Marcus Harris unexpectedly recently receiving a Cricket Australia central contract.

Reading between the lines, Harris – who hasn’t played Test cricket since January 2022 – is being earmarked to tour the U.K. with other options including Matthew Renshaw, domestic standout Cameron Bancroft and Travis Head, who admirably filled-in for an injured Warner recently in India but is viewed as ideally suited to the middle-order.

Australia do need to start regenerating an ageing top-order starting with Warner, whose record in the U.K. is mediocre and if selected he’ll have to confront a powerful England pace attack.

The smart money would be on Warner given a belated send-off in the WTC final before Australia embark on a new era.

But Warner will force the selectors to make a call because he’s unlikely to willingly stand aside.

As he’s showing during a maddening IPL campaign, Warner still clearly has fire in the belly. But the old magic has deserted him, perhaps for good.