The lack of David Warner from the Sunrisers Risers Hyderabad’s Playing XI versus Rajasthan on September 27 grabbed many people’s attention. Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes Warner’s career is coming to an end, and that the team has sent him a clear signal about his prospects.
Furthermore, Warner was dismissed as SRH captain earlier this year and was also left out of the playing XI in the rematch versus Rajasthan. He was added to the squad once the season resumed, although he only scored 0 and 2 runs in the 2 games. On Monday, Warner watched the action from his hotel room and turned to social media to praise his substitute, Jason Roy, who resulted in collecting the Player of the Match award for his 42-ball 60.
“Sunrisers are looking for the future, isn’t it? It’s a clear-cut signal to David Warner as well, that we are looking beyond you. It’s a very simple thing,” Pathan said on Star Sports.
“He was the captain – the start of the season. Then, they dropped him from the team and the captaincy. Then they brought him back after the break, and then they again dropped him. That means they are looking ahead.”
“Priyam Garg came in, Abhishek Sharma came in. They just want to try out their best players who might be playing in the future for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Whatever I saw today, quite a few positives for Sunrisers Hyderabad,” Pathan said.
We want youngsters to experience the matches and around the set-up: Bayliss
Following his side’s 7-wicket victory, SRH head coach Trevor Bayliss was asked about Warner’s unavailability. “We can’t make the finals, so we made a decision that we want the youngsters to experience not just the matches, but time at the ground and around the set-up,” Bayliss said at the post-match press conference.
“We have a number of young players who haven’t even been to the ground, even as reserves, so we wanted to give them an opportunity to come and experience a game. And that might continue for a few more games, we’ve got to sit down in a day or two and pick a team and a squad of 18”, Bayliss added.
When asked about Warner’s prospects with the franchise in consideration of 2022 being a mega-auction year, Bayliss replied: “Look, that certainly hasn’t been discussed. This is the last year before the mega auction, those decisions will be made further down the line. He’s been a great contributor to Hyderabad for a number of years now and he’s very well-respected. And with the number of runs he’s scored, I’m sure he’s got a lot more runs in him in the IPL.”
