IPL 2022 | Releasing David Warner was Sunriser’s Hyderabad biggest mistake, opines Virender Sehwag

IPL 2022 saw a massive change in team compositions courtesy of the mega auction. David Warner was released ahead of the season in spite of being a prolific run-scorer for Sunrisers Hyderabad over the years. He led the team to their lone trophy in 2016 and also was a consistent run-scorer in IPL. However, the left-hander was released ahead of the ongoing season due to his disappointing performance in the previous edition. 

In the mega auction for the current season, Warner was snapped up by Delhi Capitals. This season, he has amassed 432 runs in 12 games including five fifties. Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag stated that releasing Warner was Sunriser Hyderabad’s biggest mistake. 

“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 told Cricbuzz.

“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 has been more confident this season and is giving good starts to the franchise. He has been looking in fine touch and is trying to stay on the crease for long periods of time. Sehwag added that Warner has modified his game which is benefitting him. 

“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,” he explained.