SRH’s Decision to Drop Warner Doesn’t Go Down Well With Fans

Netizens weren’t amused with the treatment accorded to David Warner.

David Warner warmed the bench against RR after being stripped off captaincy. 

Image: BCCI

The shocking decision of the Sunrisers Hyderabad management to remove David Warner as the captain and also drop him from the playing XI for the match against Rajasthan Royals has raised many eyebrows on social media. Netizens have come out in support of the former SRH captain, with the general consensus being that it was a bitter pill to swallow given Warner has put his heart and soul into the franchise over the years.

While Jos Buttler fired on all cylinders in Delhi, the true-blue devotees of SRH had their eyes affixed on Warner, who was sitting on the sidelines. Fans tweeted heart-melting videos of him rushing to carry refreshments for his colleagues in the middle and retrieving balls struck to the fence, little gestures that just showed how passionate he is about involving himself in the game, in whatever way it may be.

In Warner’s absence, SRH suffered a biting defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals, with Buttler being the wrecker-in-chief. Those who have their loyalties with SRH couldn’t wrap their head around the fact that a man of his class and commitment had been relegated to the bench. A user was of the opinion that SRH leaving out cornerstone Warner is akin to CSK dropping MS Dhoni, RCB Dropping Virat Kohli or MI dropping Rohit Sharma.

That SRH overlooked Warner of all people drew stern criticism from his brother Steve, who took to Instagram to publicly slam the SRH think-tank. No wonder, the opener has been the fulcrum of their batting line-up for a long time now and has been delivering the goods ever so consistently at the top of the order.

Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Trevor Bayliss acknowledged Warner’s proactivity despite being out of the XI. “Like any player that gets dropped, he was disappointed, he was doing as much as he could as the 12th man for the team and the boys. He was cleaning up the bottles in the end, I noticed. he has been talking with Kane and the other boys,” said Trevor Bayliss during the post-match press conference, reported ANI.