Tom Moody Reveals Why He Supported David Warner During His SRH Tenure
Jul 9, 2020 at 12:45 AM
With the time progress, the Australian opener David Warner has transformed impressively and become one of the greatest openers in cricket history. Former Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) Head Coach Tom Moody has recently clarified why he insisted the SRH management to buy Warner in the 2014 IPL auction.
David Warner made his IPL debut in 2009 edition for Delhi Daredevils (presently known as Delhi Capitals). While he served for that franchise till 2013 edition, Warner had an ordinary journey in that tournament. During the 2014 IPL auction, SRH bought Warner for INR 550 lakhs. Since then, the left-handed opening batsman has transformed hugely in the cricket world.
Apart from achieving huge success in international cricket, Warner has also dominated in the IPL tournaments. Apart from winning three IPL Orange Caps (2015, 2017 and 2019), he also led the SRH side to win their maiden IPL trophy in the 2016 edition. Warner is currently the most run-scorer for SRH as the left-handed batsman has scored 3271 runs in 71 matches for this team (average 55.44), including hitting two centuries and 34 half-centuries.
While the former Australian cricketer Tom Moody had a strong belief on Warner, he tried his luck in the 2014 IPL auction after insisting the team management, and it ultimately became a game-changer in Warner’s cricket career.
In a recent conversation with Harsha Bhogle in Cricbuzz, Moody said, “Yeah [we made him captain], which surprised a lot of people at the time. I suppose when we secured Davey in the auction, to be truthful, it was by chance that we got him because we were expecting Delhi [Daredevils] to use the right-to-match card which they failed to do.
“So obviously they ran out of patience with regards to his maturity as a player and as a person where I assured our owners and our management that, ‘Trust me, I feel that I can work with Davey [Warner] and get the very best out of him because he is a superstar.’ And as soon as he put on orange, he didn’t really look back.”
I think a lot of people don’t understand with David Warner is that he’s a very astute thinker of the game: Tom Moody about Warner’s leadership quality
Warner was appointed as the SRH captain in 2015 edition, and in the next season, SRH won their maiden IPL trophy under his leadership. Due to the suspension by CA for his involvement in the ball-tampering incident during the 2018 Cape Town Test, Warner missed out the entire IPL 2018, returned as a non-captain in the IPL 2019 where he won his third IPL Orange Cap. He has been reappointed as the SRH captain for the IPL 2020, which has been postponed amid coronavirus outbreak.
Tom Moody, who left the SRH team after the IPL 2019, spoke about Warner’s captaincy quality, “When it comes to leadership, I think a lot of people don’t understand with David Warner is that he’s a very astute thinker of the game. They just sort of see him as that person who bangs the ball out of the ground and intimidates the opposition, and can be a little bit chirpy, certainly the old David Warner. The bottom line is there was this real drive inside him which I knew, that he wanted to take on leadership and he had the skills.
“From a coaching point of view, your role is that you just fill the spaces, wherever the leader maybe falling short in. So I knew that I could cover the areas that he might be slightly weak or developing in and there are certain things he could do out in the middle that very few could do. So I thankfully had the backing of Murali and Laxman, the two mentors, and obviously the management at the time.”
Under David Warner’s captaincy, the SRH has played 45 matches, where his team won 26 games and lost the other 19 times.