Australian batter David Warner has opened up on the acrimonious break-up with SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and the subsequent blocking on social media, saying it was bizarre and that it did ‘hurt him’.
Warner realised he was blocked by the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise in 2023 when he attempted to congratulate his national teammate Travis Head, who was acquired by SRH.
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“It did (hurt) because it was a sense of like hurt for fans. The fans are the most important relationship you could have. With the engagement with the fans that I had, with the team had was very good,” Warner said in the latest episode of R Ashwin’s YouTube show.
“Not sure why I was blocked. But, I did engage with a lot of fans on the social media side for SRH. I did feel it was my duty to engage with the fans, making sure they keep coming back. That’s what is most important. But from the blocking point of view, I don’t know. I have been sitting on it for about five years. It was bizarre. At the end of the day, I still got fans who come onto my page and talk to everyone. So it’s great,” he added.
Warner’s SRH journey
Warner joined a struggling SRH side in 2014 and quickly went on to become a mainstay in the batting unit. He was appointed the captain in 2015 and a year later, led the team to its maiden IPL title, beating star-studded Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the final while finishing the tournament as the second-highest run-getter with 848 runs.
Apart from being a terrific player for the franchise, Warner managed to form a close, intrinsic bond with the Hyderabad fans, who adored him to death. Hence, when the partnership between the SRH board and Warner came to a bitter end, the fans were left perplexed as to what transpired behind the scenes.
4Warner had started the 2021 IPL season as SRH captain but was sacked midway through the tournament and later dropped from the playing XI. To this day, Warner maintains that he does not know what he did to irk the SRH board. However, the southpaw has made peace with the fact that he may never get the answers he is looking for.
“Especially when you have played about 100 games for the franchise, I think I had four bad games in those first five matches in Chennai. It is difficult, a tough pill to swallow. There are still questions to which I think I’ll never get answers, but you have to move on,” said Warner last year.
After leaving SRH, Warner joined Delhi Capitals where he has been shouldering the opening responsibilities. The 2024 season has not been the best for the Australian who has been injured and only featured in seven matches, scoring 167 runs.
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