Former India opener Aakash Chopra doesn’t believe that all IPL franchises would go hammer and tongs for David Warner as the Australian opener lost his old mojo. David Warner was the ‘Player of the Tournament’ in the last T20 World Cup 2021 but Chopra doesn’t see him as a captaincy option for any franchise.
Warner was previously associated with Sunrisers Hyderabad but things went awry in the last season as he was sacked from captaincy mid-season and eventually dropped from the XI. Also, his social media interactions pointed out that the relations between him and the franchise ended as sour.
David Warner led Sunrisers Hyderabad to a title win in 2016
Discussing top overseas picks in the upcoming auction, Chopra said that teams would still go for Warner but he won’t be fetching a huge amount.
“The first name that comes to mind is David Warner. Warner will be expensive, he will be in demand. But I’ve heard that Lucknow (Lucknow Super Giants) were not even keen on him. We thought he would open with Rahul. Hyderabad let him go. I don’t think Chennai will even think about Warner. I’m not 100 percent certain that Mumbai will consider him,” Aakash Chopra spoke on his Youtube Channel.
Warner led Sunrisers Hyderabad to a title win in the 2016 season but Chopra doesn’t think any team would invest in him as a captain.
“I’m not saying he won’t be expensive. People will go after him. It could be Delhi, Punjab, or Ahmedabad for all we know. But I think his goodwill has taken a hit. He has scored a lot of runs, he’s a good player. But I don’t think anyone will look at him as a captain. As an opener, he might fetch money but will he go for ₹15-16-17 crores? I don’t think so.” he added.
David Warner played 150 matches in his IPL career as he represented two franchises- Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and Sunrisers Hyderabad. He is still the leading run-scorer among all overseas players in the league as he scored 5449 runs with an average of 41.59 and a strike rate of 139.96 which included 4 hundreds and 50 fifties.