Opening batsman David Warner is no longer in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s scheme of things. They made a shocking call during the initial phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 by sacking and dropping their skipper. Warner was out-of-form and, therefore, benched after scoring just 193 runs in 6 matches.
The southpaw was also expected to stay on the bench in the UAE leg but returned to the playing XI in Jonny Bairstow’s absence. However, his stay didn’t last long, and he was again dropped after managing two runs in as many matches.
After being dropped, Warner had revealed that he might not play for SRH after IPL 2021. After staying in the team hotel during SRH’s clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR), Warner returned to the stadium during Orange Army’s last fixture and was spotted cheering for Kane Williamson & Co. with a flag in his hand.
David Warner supporting SRH with their flag from stadium.
pic.twitter.com/lTncFl3DHS— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 3, 2021
While Warner’s form is certainly a reason behind his axing, former Australia all-rounder Lisa Sthalekar has criticized SRH for their behaviour towards Warner.
“It’s actually very heartbreaking when you think of the fact that David Warner has produced so much for that franchise. He has led them to so many finals, obviously, title victory in 2016. I don’t know what’s going on behind, but it has to be massive for them to be treating him like this.
She added: “It doesn’t sit well with me regardless of what he has done. I hate it, to be honest, I hate it.”
Warner has been synonymous with Sunrisers. He was the second-highest run-scorer for them in their title-winning effort with 848 runs at a strike rate of 151.42. The Aussie had a good IPL season in 2017 as well and returned strongly in 2019, scoring 692 runs in 12 matches. As captain in the 2020 IPL edition, he took SRH to number 3 on the points table.
