Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh slammed Delhi Capitals’ stand-in skipper David Warner for his side’s poor run in this edition of the Indian Premier League. The Australian opener was handed the responsibility in the absence of injured Rishabh Pant, but could not inspire his team in the cash-rich league.
Delhi Capitals lost their sixth match in the league stage against Sunrisers Hyderabad despite being in a comfortable position chasing a total of 198 runs in 20 overs and it will be an uphill task for them to qualify for the playoffs from this position.
Speaking on his youtube, Harbhajan Singh had no mercy on the Delhi Capitals skipper, as he slammed David Warner as the primary reason for their failure in the league, stating that he didn’t lead the side well and lambasted his current form as the Australian southpaw played at a poor strike rate of 118.60 in eight games opening the batting for his side.
“I don’t think they can make a comeback, and the entire reason for that is captain. He didn’t lead the side well, and then his form was an issue. It has been very disappointing. Warner was dismissed earlier today (vs SRH), which is why Delhi came so close. If he had played 50 balls, that would’ve been 50 balls wasted and DC would’ve lost by 50 runs,” Harbhajan Singh said.
Delhi Capitals had a disastrous start to the IPL 2023, as they lost the opening five games in the league before staging a comeback against Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad to register back-to-back wins and losing the close games on Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday.
Warner’s captaincy came under the scanner as he didn’t promote Axar Patel in the chase as their middle order fell in packs in the end overs as Manish Pandey, Sarfaraz Khan, and Priyam Garg were dismissed cheaply by Hyderabad bowlers.
David Warner Hasn’t Done Justice To His Stature This Year – Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh feels that Warner usually points out the mistakes of the other players in the team rather than taking the blame on him as he scored 306 runs at the poorest strike among the top batters in the league and added that the Southpaw has to look on the mirror to find a reason for DC failure in IPL 2023.
“Even now, when he comes to presentations, he says about other players’ mistakes. But what have you done? You didn’t show any intent; you scored 300+ runs but look at your strike rate. Warner hasn’t done justice to his stature this year. His 300 runs are of no use to DC. Warner needs to look in the mirror if he wants to find a reason for DC being at the bottom,” Harbhajan Singh added.
Delhi Capitals will be on the road to take on defending champions Gujarat Titans on May 2 in the famous Narendra Modi Stadium.