Former South African captain Graeme Smith believes David Warner is no longer indispensable to Australian cricket and hence, the team management, as well as selectors, must ensure that the veteran opener has a seamless transition back into the national dressing room. 

Warner is expected to return from his 12-month ban for ball-tampering, and play the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup and Ashes later in the summer. 

But despite head coach Justin Langer, Test captain Tim Paine and limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch making it clear that he'll be received with open arms, Graeme Smith remains unsure how Warner's teammates will welcome him back into the fold. 

"I don't know," he told Fox Sports. "It's difficult to know what it's like behind the scenes, but he's always been an incredible cricketer. Especially when he bats, he bats with that driven nature, that intensity, ego to perform. And he's an excellent cricketer."

"I think where David has been throughout his career is that he's pissed a lot of people off. He's just that type of guy. I think at the moment he needs Australian cricket more than they need him."

Warner is currently in India, playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. He has been in stellar form and leads the run-scoring chart with 349 runs at a strike-rate of 146.64 across his six innings. 

"He (Warner) is very driven, I think he wants to do well, he wants to prove his worth again and I think David Warner in that position is probably a good guy to have in your environment," Smith added. 

"It's when he starts to get bigger than everybody else that probably management needs to be ready for [that]."

"Guys like [coach Justin] Langer and whoever is captaining the side going forward need to ensure they stay on top of that and manage that space and that ego well going forward."