New Delhi: Sunrisers Hyderabad's assistant coach Brad Haddin believes that the decision to drop star opener David Warner from the playing XI during the Indian Premier League (IPL) had nothing to do with his poor form. Warner, who led Sunrisers to their only IPL title in 2016, was stripped of the captaincy in May while he was dropped from the playing XI during the second leg of the lucrative T20 tournament in the UAE.
The left-handed batsman, however, made a spectacular comeback in the T20 World Cup and was adjudged the player of the tournament. Warner played important innings in the semi-finals and final that helped Australia win their first-ever T20 World Cup trophy.
"I tell you what it was not a cricket decision that he was not playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad. I think the one thing you have to realise with David is that he was not out of form, he was out of match practice. They had a long break; he did not go to Bangladesh or West Indies. But he turned up in really good headspace. He was hitting the ball well, circumstances were out of our control, even the coaching staff," said SRH coach Brad Haddin during a conversation on Grade Cricketers Podcasts.
"But it was not because he was out of form. All he needed was some match time, he was hitting the ball well. He just needed to spend some time in the middle to get the rhythm again. As the tournament went on, you have seen his class. He got a bit of rhythm back into his game and he was good to watch."
The 35-year-old Warner, who failed to score runs in Australia's warm-up matches, managed to find his momentum in the main tournament and went on to score a total of 289 runs in the tournament including a half-century in the final against New Zealand.