Former England spinner Graeme Swann believes David Warner paid the price for his comments on fellow Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman Manish Pandey, which eventually led to him being axed of captaincy of the franchise. Warner on Sunday was removed as captain of the Sunrisers, with Kane Williamson taking over the responsibilities. However, the fans were in for another surprise when Warner did not feature in the SRH Playing XI for their match against Rajasthan Royals.
"It was a harsh call in my opinion. But at the end of the day, it is a decision of the selectors to do that," Warner had said during a post-match press conference when asked why Pandey was dropped for the matches against Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals.
The whole development, Swann reckon, could be the aftermath of what Warner had to say about Pandey getting dropped for the next two matches after he played an innings of 38 off 29 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
"It seems like a message has been given to David Warner after that press conference where he passed the buck that this is not my decision but the selectors'. Someone's not happy about it, and unhappy enough to get rid of him as the skipper and drop him from the team. It looks like punishment to me more than anything," Swann had said on the Star Sports pre-match show.
{{/usCountry}}"It seems like a message has been given to David Warner after that press conference where he passed the buck that this is not my decision but the selectors'. Someone's not happy about it, and unhappy enough to get rid of him as the skipper and drop him from the team. It looks like punishment to me more than anything," Swann had said on the Star Sports pre-match show.
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Former India fast bowler Ajit Agarkar was equally baffled to see Warner not part of SRH’s Playing XI. Agarkar saw the logic behind appointing Williamson as captain of the team, but to drop Warner from the Playing XI, despite being fit, the former fast bowler could not wrap his head around it.
"It's almost unthinkable, isn't it? David Warner was fit, he was available but he wasn't part of the Playing XI. His numbers tell you the story, what a phenomenal player he has been in the through the course of his career," Agarkar said on the same show.
"It is certainly a shock and it happened quite quickly. Yes, you could understand the performance of the team and they were struggling. You could understand the change in captaincy but to not have him in the XI was a massive surprise."