Irfan Pathan has said that David Warner’s uninspiring captaincy was one of the main reasons for the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) poor run in IPL 2021.
SRH handed over the reins to Kane Williamson after suffering defeats in five of their six matches under David Warner’s leadership. However, the move did not yield immediate dividends as the Orange Army was handed a 55-run drubbing by the Rajasthan Royals.
Irfan Pathan: SRH’s Biggest Problem Was David Warner’s Captaincy Particularly Batting Cautiously
During a discussion on Star Sports, Irfan Pathan expressed surprise at SRH’s insipid displays in IPL 2021 and pointed out that David Warner’s captaincy and batting are to be blamed to a large extent.
“They surprised us. They were a top-four team for me. SRH’s biggest problem was David Warner’s captaincy, the way he was managing the team and the way he was batting. He was batting very cautiously,” said Pathan.
The former India all-rounder highlighted that SRH replacing their skipper implies they were dissatisfied with his decision-making.
“When Kane Williamson was made the captain later, it means franchise was not happy with him, the way he was making the decisions,” added Irfan Pathan.
The SRH management stated they relieved David Warner of his duties as they wanted to go with an overseas all-rounder. With Jonny Bairstow and Kane Williamson in good form, they did not have any other option but to leave David Warner out of their playing XI and thereby change the captain as well.
With 5447 runs, David Warner is fifth on the list of the leading run-getters in the IPL and the highest run-getter among overseas players. With 50 half-centuries, he has the maximum fifties in the IPL history and he is the only player to have won the Orange Cap a record three times – in 2015, 2017, and 2019.
Irfan Pathan: SRH Didn’t Have Any Experienced Middle Order Batsman As Kedar Jadhav Was Ignored
While highlighting the lack of experience in the SRH middle order, Irfan Pathan questioned the decision of not playing Kedar Jadhav in the initial stages of the tournament.
“We always talk about SRH that they don’t have any experienced players in the middle. Kedar Jadhav did not play at the start although he is an experienced player. They played Suchith for a couple of matches and then again dropped him,” said Pathan.
The 36-year-old concluded by stating that the absence of an express pace bowler is also a concern for SRH.
“They will have to improve their combination and they do not have an out-and-out quick bowler, who can consistently bowl around 140 kph and keep performing on flat pitches,” signed off Irfan Pathan.
SRH was also hit hard by injuries to two of their most accomplished seamers. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar missed a couple of matches due to a thigh injury, T Natarajan was ruled out of IPL 2021 after playing just two encounters.
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). The Australian himself has been in the indifferent form of late and a far cry from the destructive batsman as he had a strike rate of just 110.28 in the IPL 2021 managing 193 runs averaging 32.16 in 6 games.
Kedar Jadhav had scored only 62 runs in 8 games for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2020 at a modest average of 20.66 and a strike rate of 93.93 which is poor by T20 standards and he was released by CSK. He managed 40 runs in 4 games averaging 20 in IPL 2021 at a comparatively better strike rate of 125.
The franchise had a disastrous start to their campaign in 2021 losing 6 of their first 7 matches as the Orange Army is languishing at the bottom of the points table when the IPL was suspended indefinitely.