“Releasing David Warner was Sunrisers Hyderabad’s biggest mistake” - Virender Sehwag while reflecting on DC opener’s IPL 2022 form 

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag termed the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) decision to part ways with former captain David Warner as their ‘biggest mistake’. Sehwag stated that whatever issues there were between the Aussie and the management could have been sorted out and SRH should have reconciled with the match-winner ahead of IPL 2022.

SRH sacked the Australian opener as captain midway through the last IPL season and dropped him from the playing XI as well for the last few matches of the edition. The 35-year-old wasn’t retained and went back into the auction, where he was purchased by his former franchise, the Delhi Capitals (DC) for ₹6.25 crore.

The veteran left-hander has had an excellent IPL 2022 season, scoring 427 runs in 11 matches at an average of 53.38 and a strike rate of 151.96. Warner will be key to DC’s fortunes when the franchise take on the Mumbai Indians (MI) on Saturday in a must-win game. While discussing the match on Cricbuzz, Sehwag shared his views on the Aussie opener’s prolific run and said:

“Releasing David Warner has been Sunrisers Hyderabad’s biggest mistake. They should never have let him go, irrespective of what happened. If an Indian captain makes a statement, the selectors don’t remove him or sack him. SRH management should have backed Warner, which they did not do. If they had, he would still have been with the franchise.”

Sehwag further pointed out that any cricketer can have a disappointing season, but that doesn’t make him a bad cricketer. Giving the example of Virat Kohli, he said:

“Anyone can have a poor season. Virat Kohli only recently scored that fifty, otherwise his season has been really bad. That doesn’t mean Bangalore must release him.”

Warner played eight games for SRH in IPL 2021, scoring 195 runs at an average of 24.37 and a strike rate of 107.73. He expressed his displeasure at the manner in which he was treated by the franchise in an interview earlier this year.

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“He is controlling the game” - Virender Sehwag on maturity in David Warner’s batting

Praising the Aussie left-hander for adding a new dimension to his game, Sehwag stated that the 35-year-old has become adept at modifying his batting to suit the team’s needs. The former India opener explained:

“Warner has modified his game. He plays according to the situation. He started with attacking cricket but now he is controlling the game as well and tries to stay till the end, which is a sign of a very good player.”

Warner was dismissed for a golden duck in DC’s previous IPL 2022 match against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). The franchise, however, recovered to register a crucial 17-run win.