IPL 2021: Why wasn't David Warner at the ground for the RR match? SRH head coach answers
Former SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain David Warner stirred quite a storm on social media for not attending his side’s clash against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Monday. But head coach Trevor Bayliss brushed aside any controversy, saying he stayed back at the hotel to give younger players in-stadia experience.
Even as SRH notched up a win in IPL 2021 for the first time since April 21, fans grew impatient seeing Warner, their once talismanic leader, absent even in the dugout. The Aussie southpaw was bombarded on social media with queries about his whereabouts, to one of which he replied, “unfortunately won’t be [at the ground] again”.
Quizzed about the same, Bayliss replied it was a routine move to make some of the lesser-known faces experience being at an IPL match. He further clarified Warner, along with batsman Manish Pandey and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, are all fit and simply remained at the team hotel.
“We’ve got a lot of young players here, and for this match we decided obviously we’re going to make a few changes in the team. But to give some of the young players who haven’t been a part of the 18 and we had to bring them to the game, give them the opportunity to come along and experience a game.
“We’ve got a number of guys who stayed behind in the hotel and haven’t even experienced being at the ground. So we want to give all those young guys as much of an experience as we possibly can. So for this game, it was David, Kedar and Nadeem with the three fit guys that weren’t here today,” Bayliss said in response to Sportskeeda’s question at the post-match press conference.
The frequent chopping and changing finally paid dividends as the Uppal-based franchise comprehensively beat Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals (RR) by seven wickets to stay in the mathematical race for a playoffs spot.
Is it the end of the road for David Warner at the SunRisers Hyderabad?
IPL 2021 has been as much a roller-coaster ride for SRH as it has been for their 2016 IPL-winning captain. Six matches into the tournament, David Warner was first sacked as captain and then left out of the playing XI against, incidentally, the Royals.
The 34-year-old was included in the line-up post the COVID-induced hiatus, but after scoring 0 and 2 in both SRH losses after the resumption, Warner didn’t find himself on the team bus. What's more is that, going by his comment, he doesn’t even see himself playing for the franchise again.
So is this the end of the road at SRH for Warner, who is the IPL’s leading run-getter among overseas players?
“That certainly hasn’t been discussed, this is the last year before the major auction, those decisions will be made further down the line. He’s been a great contributor to the Hyderabad SunRisers for a number of years now, and he’s very well-respected. And with the amount of runs he’s scored, and I am sure he’s got a lot more runs in him yet in the IPL,” Trevor Bayliss stated.
SRH still lay in the bottom spot with just two wins from 10 matches. They will next lock horns with current table-toppers Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Thursday (September 30) in Sharjah.