Veteran Australia opener David Warner has stated that he was hurt after being dropped from the playing XI of SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League for ‘no fault of his own’. He also expressed that he was sacked from the captaincy of SRH “without being given a reason.”
However, Warner had been going through a rough patch in the first half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. This cost him the captaincy and then the place in the playing XI as well. With Jonny Bairstow unavailable in the second half of the cash-rich league, he came back in the squad but failed to perform again and eventually dropped as well. He also shared that despite being dropped, he didn’t stop his training. However, he has been with SRH since 2014 and started leading in 2015 as well. He even led the team to their first-ever IPL title in 2016 also.
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In an interview with Economic Times, Warner said: “When you are dropped from the team you have loved the most for years without any real fault of yours and stripped of captaincy without being given a reason, it hurts. At the same time there are no complaints. The fans in India have always been there for me and it is for them that you play. We play to entertain. We play to push for excellence.”
“Whatever may have been the reason for me not finding a spot in an IPL team, I can tell you I was training the hardest I ever did. I didn’t not miss a single day. I was batting extremely well in the nets and it was only a matter of time before it all started to work out. So yes, while it hurt, I knew I will have another opportunity,” David Warner again said.
Meanwhile, Warner has found his touch in the 2021 T20 World Cup and finished the tournament as the second-highest run-getter with 289 runs as Australia won their maiden men’s T20 title beating New Zealand. He was also the Player of the Tournament.
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Speaking about this, the swashbuckling opener said: “Even in the final, if you see, I had scored 25 of 25 balls before I pushed on. That’s how things shape up on occasions. From the very start of the innings, I was middling the ball and was feeling good in the middle.”
“Mitch played a stellar hand and there was no pressure on me. I knew if I stayed there, I will be able to play my shots and it was just a matter of time before the runs started to flow. If you know you are batting well and are confident there is just no reason to think negative. I never did and it worked,” David Warner concluded.
