Trevor Bayliss refrained from making any clear comment on David Warner’s future with the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL going forward.
Speculations are rife that Warner has potentially already played his last match for Sunrisers, a franchise that the Aussie left-hander has given his best to as a batter and captain over the years. It was under Warner’s captaincy that the franchise lifted their only Premier League title to date in 2016.
But with the experienced left-hander’s batting returns being on the wane since last year, twice now in IPL 2021 he has been dropped from the playing XI after also being sacked from captaincy during the Indian leg of the tournament earlier this year.
Warner was not part of SRH’s tenth game of the IPL 2021 on Monday against the Rajasthan Royals. He wasn’t even present at the stadium in Dubai as his side went on to win with Kane Williamson at the helm.
“Look that (Warner’s future) certainly has not been discussed. It is something that… this is the last year before a major auction. Those decisions will be made further down the line.”
Trevor Bayliss was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
The Australian coach indirectly played down suggestions of indifference between him and Warner, saying there is no loss of respect for the senior statesman, who “has been a great contributor” for SRH and is “very well respected” by everyone in the camp.
While understandably mum about Warner’s future with the side, Bayliss did offer an explanation why he wasn’t present at the ground to help the team with some strategies from the dugout.
The explanation that Bayliss gave partly hinted that fans will not see Warner play another match for SRH in IPL 2021, as he said dropping him and leaving him back was about handing “young players” in the side an opportunity to experience not just the game scenarios “but time at the ground, around the set-up.”
With SRH already out of the playoffs race, they made four changes to their side, including the comebacks of Priyam Garg and Abhishek Sharma to the middle-order.
Bayliss confirmed Warner was “not the only experienced player” that they left back at the hotel, as Kedar Jadhav and Shahbaz Nadeem were not there at the ground too.
Warner is undoubtedly one of the greatest players to have featured in the IPL, with an excellent overall record: 5,449 runs at an average of 41.59 and strike-rate of 139.36. However, he has been a shadow of himself with the bat in this year’s edition, making only 195 runs from eight innings at an average of 24.37 and strike-rate of 107.73.
