Warner opens up on bitter split from Sunrisers Hyderabad

Delhi Capitals (DC) and Australian opener David Warner on Monday opened up on his unceremonious exit from his former Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad, calling his departure from SRH as "bizarre".

After playing for Delhi Daredevils from 2009-13 in the IPL, Warner was bought by SRH in 2014 and stayed with the franchise till 2021. However, despite winning the 2016 IPL with the franchise as a captain and scoring heaps of runs for the Orange Army, the Aussie experienced an unceremonious exit from the side.

First, he was sacked as a captain midway through the 2021 season because of his poor form and frequent losses for SRH. New Zealand batter Kane Williamson replaced him as the captain after Warner lost five out of the first six games of the season.

In the second half of the season, not only was Warner dropped, but also blocked by the franchise on social media.

SRH finished at the bottom with three wins and 11 losses. Warner also scored poorly, making just 195 runs in eight innings with two fifties at an average of 24.38 and a sub-par strike rate of just over 107, which is not associated with his more attacking gameplay.

Speaking on Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's YouTube channel, Warner said that the treatment meted out to him by the team management and him being blocked from social media did hurt him.

"It did hurt because it was a sense of like hurt for fans. The fans are the most important relationship you could have. The engagement with the fans that I had, with the team had was very good," Warner said.

"I am not sure why I was blocked. But I did engage with a lot of fans on the social media side for SRH. I did feel it was my duty to engage with the fans, making sure they kept coming back. That is what is most important. But from the blocking point of view, I do not know. I have been sitting on it for about 5 years. It was bizarre. At the end of the day, I still have fans who come onto my page and talk to everyone. So it is great," he added.

Warner's stint with SRH made him an IPL legend and possibly the best overseas player to have graced the league. In 95 matches, he scored 4,014 runs at an average of 49.56 and a strike rate of 142.59, with two centuries and 40 fifties. His best score was 126.

He not only won an IPL title for his side in 2016 as a skipper, but also won the 'Orange Cap' honour for most runs in a season thrice, in 2015, 2017 and 2019, the most by any batter in league history.

Warner was bought by DC ahead of IPL 2022 for Rs 6.25 crore. In 88 matches for DC, Warner has made 2,550 runs at an average of 31.88 and a strike rate of 135.64, with two centuries and 22 fifties. His best score is 109*. However, he has not won any IPL title with DC.

This season however, Warner has scored just 167 runs in seven games at an average of 23.85 and a strike rate of 135.77, with a knock of 52 as his solitary fifty.