Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) made a surprising decision mid-way into the tournament replacing existing skipper David Warner with New Zealand’s Kane Williamson. The franchise had a disastrous start to their campaign in 2021 losing 5 of their first six matches as the Orange Army is languishing at the bottom of the points table.
The Australian himself has been in indifferent form and a far cry from the destructive batsman he has been over the years for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. David Warner has a strike rate of just 110.28 in the competition.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Is Controlled By Someone From The Outside As Skipper David Warner Isn’t In Full Control: Ajay Jadeja
Unconfirmed reports suggest that there has been some brewing tension between the management and David Warner over selection issues with the captain not having much of a say in deciding the final XI. Former Indian cricketer, Ajay Jadeja, while speaking to Cricbuzz, stated that it seemed that the remote control of the team is in the hands of someone outside and not with the captain.
“It was evident that SRH is being controlled by someone from the outside – coach, management, whoever. But the captain Warner was not in full control. He himself stated that the selection of the final XI is not done by him so he does not have a complete say in it,” stated Jadeja.
David Warner’s strike rate of 110.28 this season is poor considering his IPL average of 140.13. He has managed 193 runs in 6 games averaging 32.16 which is much lower than his IPL average of 42.22. He was even axed from the playing XI in an ongoing match against Rajasthan Royals. He had scored above 500 runs in every edition since 2014 except in 2018 when he was banned for the ball-tampering offense.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Will Be Better Served By Kane Williamson: Ajay Jadeja
However, Ajay Jadeja added that the decision to sack David Warner and replace him with Kane Williamson was a wise call that will benefit the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the long run. He said that Kane Williamson was the right choice to lead SRH.
“Anyone who is following cricket for a period of time will tell you that between the two, Williamson is a better choice as captain. Warner is a great batsman and he has also led the Sunrisers Hyderabad to victory in the past but it is a no-brainer as to who is a better choice as skipper,” added Jadeja.
David Warner had led the Sunrisers to a title win-their first and only one in IPL 2016 beating the Virat Kohli-led RCB in the final. He was in a stunning form that season and amassed a whopping 848 runs in 17 matches at a strike rate of 151.42. He is the leading run-scorer amongst overseas batsmen in IPL history and has an aggregate of 5447 runs in 148 matches at an average of 42.22 and strike rate of 140.13 including 4 hundred and 50 fifties.
Sunrisers Hyderabad is languishing at the bottom of the points table with only 2 points from 6 games winning only 1 game and losing as many as 5 games.