Sunrisers Hyderabad had a tumultuous time in the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as their on-field performances weren’t up to the mark and evidently, all was not right between the team management and the former skipper David Warner. While there were visible differences between the staff and the skipper relating to team combination as the 2016 champions had won just one game out of their first 5, the franchise dropped a bombshell by removing Warner from the role midway during the tournament.
Talking about how he felt after losing the captaincy, Warner said that his stats were there for everyone to see so he didn’t need to say or post anything then and rather felt that he could go back to being the free-flowing batsman that the fans have always seen and admired.
Speaking to his former teammate Brett Lee on ‘The Brett Lee podcast’, Warner said, “Last year, it hit me when I lost the captaincy in the Indian Premier League. I thought I could go back the old way, look at my stats. I believe that I didn’t have to comment or do anything like that post that.”
The 35-year old said that he found preparing for a T20 tournament in sub-continent conditions very tough because of the heat and humidity and it takes a toll on his body.
“When you play T20 cricket in Indian conditions, it cooks your body and taxes your legs. You see, Maxwell’s IPL last year, he was cooked after three overs. If you are playing 14 games in the space of 60-70 days with training in between, you can’t physically prepare for that.
“I had seven days to prepare when I first arrived for the IPL. I would be in the sauna for 10 minutes and then run a kilometre on the treadmill and repeat the same. That was the only way I could prepare for the conditions and I’ve done it pretty much every time I’ve gone for the IPL,” Warner further said.
