David Warner on Tuesday told that captaining Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2020 would be an honor to him. What could be termed as a redemption tale for the Australian cricketer, Warner would like to just focus on each game without worrying much.
David Warner to captain SRH in IPL 2020
David Warner will captain a team at a competitive level for the first time after sandpaper scandal in IPL 2020. While a lot see this as a redemption tale for him being reinstated as the skipper of Hyderabad based franchise, the man in question thinks in a different way. He is more interested in calling this an honour. “(I) don’t see it as a redemption tale, I just see it as an honour to captain the Sunrisers in an IPL franchise. I’ve got a great relationship with the players and the staff and most importantly with the owners, and I’ve expressed my gratitude and I thank them for that. I’ll put my thinking cap on and try my best to move us forward to another IPL title.”
IPL 2020 SRH Squad: Sunrisers Hyderabad Team for IPL 2020
David Warner had led Hyderabad to their only IPL win in 2016. In 2019 when he joined the team after serving one year ban, it was a chance for him to prove himself once again. He ended as the leading run-getting for the season under the able leadership of Kane Williamson. Warner, while speaking about the episode said, “Obviously Kane and Bhuvi (Bhuvaneshwar Kumar)did a fantastic job without me there. And we’ve got a very, very good foundation there, we’ve got a great family. The environment the owners have created amongst the players and staff. It’s great to be back and leading. Having Kane there adds so much value and knowledge of the way the game is played as well. Similarly, we rebound off each other with our ideas quite well. and obviously playing against him – it helps when you are leading a team. but from where I sit, nothing different.”
But David Warner even in 2019 considered himself as the skipper. He recalled, “I still considered myself a leader when I was there last year, as I said it doesn’t matter if you have a ‘c’ next to your name or not.”
Also Read: IPL 2020: BCCI Sent Acceptance Letter to ECB
Warner to never captain Australia
But Warner will never be able to captain Australian side at the international level. Experts do think that Cricket Australia was a bit too harsh while England Cricket Board was more considerate when it comes to Ben Stokes’ incident outside a Bristol Pub.
“I think it was good for him to get that opportunity. Obviously, he’s a world-class player and he was renamed vice-captain after the six-month suspension when he didn’t get to come out here for the Ashes. And that’s just the way the ECB handled that decision and credit to him the way he went about that Test match. He scored a lot of runs and took some wickets. It’s almost like he had his heart set on going out there and delivering what he does all the time when he puts on the England cricket outfit, to be the best person he can be and play the best cricket he can.”
He added, “From my perspective, it’s about keep on walking out there and putting my best foot forward. My focus is just on preparing for each game and that’s all I can control and worry about. At the end of the day, the decision has been made. It’s in the past now and for me it’s about playing with the freedom that I normally play with and enjoy my cricket.”
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