Dale Steyn, the South Africa fast bowler pointed out that he finds the decision to drop David Warner ‘strange’ given his track record in the IPL. South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn feels the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League could be David Warner’s final season with the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Dale Steyn’s reaction comes after Australian David Warner, a day after being removed as captain of the side, missed out on being part of the team’s Playing XI against Rajasthan Royals.
Dale Steyn Finds It Strange David Warner Isn’t Part Of The Playing 11 As He Hints IPL 2021 Might Be The Last Season He Will Be Seen In SRH Colours
Dale Steyn feels that it would have been alright to appoint Kane Williamson as captain and still give David Warner a game. But the South Africa fast bowler pointed out that he finds the decision to drop David Warner ‘strange’ given his track record in the IPL and added that if given a chance he would always have the Australia batsman in his team.
David Warner is the fifth on the list of IPL’s highest run-getters, and the only batsmen to score fifty half-centuries in the tournament, besides being a three-time Orange Cap winner, the most by any player.
“It’s strange that he isn’t a part of the playing eleven. It’s understandable if they want to change ownership of captaincy for the next season, and keep Kane there. But David is still a phenomenal batter and I would still keep him in the eleven. But this might be the last time we see Warner in the Orange Army,” Steyn told ESPNCricinfo.
With 5447 runs, David Warner is fifth on the list of the leading run-getters in the IPL but first overall in terms of overseas players. A day after being removed as captain of the team, David Warner was axed from the team as well, with the fourth overseas player’s spot going to Mohammad Nabi. With 50 half-centuries, he has the maximum fifties in IPL and he is the only player to have won the Orange Cap a record three times – in 2015, 2017, and 2019.
David Warner is not only the top scorer in SRH’s history, the 34-year-old has also led the team to their maiden IPL title (2016) and multiple qualifier finishes. Kane Williamson, on the other hand, marshaled SRH to a runner-up finish in David Warner’s absence in 2018.
Dale Steyn Feels There’s Definitely Something Happening Behind SRH’s Closed Doors
Even though SRH’s director of operations Tom Moody hinted that opener David Warner’s axing was purely based on the team composition, Dale Steyn feels there is more to it, believing that there may have been some sort of falling out following David Warner’s comment on Manish Pandey getting dropped after the first match.
“I don’t know if David may have questioned some of the decisions, maybe when Manish Pandey was left out. Sometimes, the management doesn’t appreciate that, I guess. The captain of the team also needs to take ownership of his squad and who’s going out on the field. Seems like there’s definitely happening something behind closed doors, the public is not aware of,” mentioned Steyn.
Hyderabad brought in Afghan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi instead as the fourth overseas player in the playing XI, which also includes Englishman Jonny Bairstow and Afghan spinner Rashid Khan.
However, in Kane Williamson’s first IPL 2021 match as skipper, Rajasthan Royals were back to winning ways after registering a victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The franchise is languishing at the bottom of the points table after just one win in their first 7 matches and is almost surely out of the play-offs race.