The mercurial David Warner heads back home as he was snapped up by the Delhi Capitals for Rs.6.25 Crore in the 2022 IPL mega auctions. The stalwart Aussie left-hander was treated rather unfairly, by most accounts, in the previous edition of the tournament, where he was stripped of his role as captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad and kept out of the side.
The rift between the Sunrisers and Warner was quite obvious, with the player even making it clear on social media that he felt he was mistreated at the franchise and would like to leave following the 2021 season. Warner also had a brilliant 2021 T20 World Cup as he emerged as the player of the tournament, where Australia won the trophy for the first time.
Former South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris has opined that Warner will now come to the IPL with a vengeance, looking to prove a point to those who said that he was a spent force.
Morris, who is still the most expensive buy in the tournament’s history, as he was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals for Rs. 16.25 crore in the 2021 auctions, said that Ricky Ponting’s men got a hungry beast in Warner, and also will be a perfect replacement for Dhawan, who was snapped up by the Punjab Kings for Rs. 8.25 Crore.
Warner will likely join opener Prithvi Shaw at the top for DC, and will form one of the most dangerous opening partnerships in the tournament.
Morris felt that Warner will perfectly complement Shaw, who likes to go big at the beginning, which would be ideal until Warner gets his eye in, before proceeding to attack the bowlers.
”Absolutely, I think they will complement each other beautifully well. Yeah, look, I think Dave playing under Ricky and with his leadership and his guidance, I think you got a caged animal
There is no doubt about his cricketing ability but with what happened off the field at the SRH, I think he’s going to be quite a handful to deal with because when you are playing for an Australian legend, and you slightly are also becoming an Australian legend, so you obviously want to do well for that person,”
he said on Star Sports.
