A lot has been said and written since the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) camp decided to remove David Warner from the captaincy post on Saturday (May 1). While what followed was more shocking for the ardent cricket fans worldwide as Warner didn’t even find a place in the playing XI for SRH’s clash versus Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Sunday (May 2).
Thus, many former cricketers and experts of the game have remained perplexed as to what led to such a situation for Warner, who remains a legend in IPL and led the SRH franchise with aplomb since 2015. He even led them to their maiden title in the 2016 season.
New Zealand’s former cricketer-turned-commentator Simon Doull, thus, opened up on Warner’s sacking and said that Warner’s comments on Manish Pandey’s omission must have played a role behind his sacking and removal. “I think there must have been a falling out somewhere along the lines and not with the team, there has to be a falling out with the coaching structure. After what he said in that game about leaving Manish Pandey out, it was not his decision at all, he didn’t want to do it clearly. And basically, you passed the buck, you blamed it on someone else and I think he has paid the price for that,” said Doull while speaking to Cricbuzz.
“That dynamic… you sack a coach, Tom Moody, you employ Trevor Bayliss and then you bring Tom Moody back to oversee your cricket. I don’t know how that relationship can possibly work. And I wonder whether one [win] in 5 (6) is the direct result of that relationship not working… And the press release suggests that he [David Warner] won’t even play now that’s even more strange,” Doull added.
With Manish Pandey not being at his usual best since IPL 2021 start, the Orange Army had decided to drop him from the playing XI — a move that wasn’t received well by Warner. Thus, after SRH lost a Super Over thriller to Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 25, Warner had stated on Manish’s ouster, “It depends on the selectors, it was a harsh call as per my opinion (On leaving out Manish Pandey). But at the end of the day it is a decision that they took and you cannot discredit Virat, he’s a very good player and the surface was difficult.”
After confirming Warner’s omission for the RR clash, SRH Director of Cricket Operations and their former head coach Tom Moody had told the broadcasters on the eve of the game on Sunday (May 2), “Firstly he’s not going to be playing in this game and that’s purely a decision based on the combination. We’ve come to the conclusion that at this stage two overseas bat, an all-rounder and Rashid Khan is our best combination. We looked at it very closely. Obviously Bairstow’s form and Williamson’s form is at a great height and we are very thrilled with the way they are playing and we had to make a hard call and someone had to miss out and unfortunately for Davey (Warner) on this occasion, it’s him. He’s been pretty good.”
Despite Kane Williamson taking over from Warner, the SRH camp’s struggles haven’t ended as they lost to RR by 55 runs on Sunday and continue to hold the bottom spot in the points table, with only one win from 7 encounters.
