David Warner has batted with one of the broadest bats at the IPL. His 5,449 runs, at an average of 41.59 and a strike rate of 139.96, vouch for that.
He also led Sunrisers Hyderabad to victory in 2016. Something that seems like a distant memory now.
He was relieved of captaincy earlier this season and dropped for the match against Rajasthan Royals.
Eyebrows were raised when he didn’t accompany the team to the stadium here on Monday. He watched the match from his Dubai hotel room; he wrote on Instagram that he wouldn’t be at the stadium again.
There has been speculation that his association with SRH, which dates back to 2014, may not last beyond the season. His former teammate at the Hyderabad franchise, Dale Steyn, had spoken of that possibility back in May.
After SRH’s comfortable seven-wicket victory against Royals, in which Warner’s replacement Jason Roy scored 60, coach Trevor Bayliss refused to read too much into the Australian opener’s absence from the ground.
“We have a lot of young players and we decided... to give them an opportunity to come along and experience the game (at the stadium),” he told reporters after Monday’s match.
He added that Warner’s future at SRH had not been discussed yet. “I am sure he has got a lot more runs in him yet in the IPL,” he said.
Royals all-rounder Chris Morris said his team wasn’t winning the big moments in a game. “We have to pull up our socks and win the big moments,” he said.
