5 reasons why David Warner was as incredible as Virat Kohli in IPL 2016
The IPL 2016 final on Sunday at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore was set to be Virat Kohli’s night of coronation and the night when Royal Challengers Bangalore would win their maiden trophy in the history of this Indian T20 extravaganza. With 919 runs under his belt and superhero like companionship (AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle), Virat Kohli was looking unassailable and unstoppable. However, one man, the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad – David Warner – had a script of his own.
If Virat Kohli can be described as Superman for his performances in IPL 2016, David Warner has been like the Batman – relentless, inspiring, tactful and masterly. The Australian southpaw remained on the heels of his Indian counterpart throughout the tournament and due to the low-profile nature of his side, went largely unnoticed for a significant part of it.
Also, Kohli might have won the Orange Cap and other individual plaudits but Warner took home what the former wanted the most – the IPL 2016 trophy – and deservedly so. Here are five reasons why David Warner was as incredible as Virat Kohli in IPL 2016.
#1 Prolific run-scoring
Virat Kohli took home a lot of individual honours and the biggest of them was the coveted Orange Cap, which he got for scoring 973 runs in 16 matches at an average of 81.08 and a strike in excess of 152. David Warner was not far behind and compiled a remarkable total of 848 runs with a strike rate of 151.42 and an average of 60.
Without taking anything away from Kohli, it can be safely said David Warner batted in tougher conditions as compared to the former. The track at Chinnaswamy is a belter where the par score is in excess of 180 and the ball comes on to the bat fairly nicely. On the other hand, Warner batted on a track (Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Hyderabad) that is more bowler-friendly and is located in a ground with bigger boundaries.