It Was The Management's Decision To Give Captaincy To Kane Williamson, David Warner Took It Pretty Maturely: SRH Spinner Shahbaz Nadeem

Shahbaz Nadeem, the Sunrisers Hyderabad left-arm spinner, opens up on the behind-the-scenes reactions of David Warner’s sacking mid-season of IPL 2021 as a captain and from the eleven.

Following SRH’s 5th defeat in 6 games, as Shahbaz Nadeem reveals, the SRH management – comprising director of cricket Tom Moody, head coach Trevor Bayliss, assistant coach Brad Haddin, batting mentor VVS Laxman – put Williamson at the helm replacing Warner, who had led them to the 2016 IPL title and is their leading run-scorer.

He says that Williamson handled the situation well, and Warner was professional in it as despite his axing from the eleven, he remained involved in the team decision and was active off the field too helping other players in the side.

“It was the SRH management’s decision to give the captaincy to Kane Williamson. I don’t think Kane is a bad captain. He is really mature, and both he and management handled the situation really well. We played just one game after the captaincy changed and hence, it would be wrong to call it a bad move just yet.

“Everything was fine in our dressing room. David took the decision pretty maturely. He was active not just on the field but off it too and was always ready to help the team,” Shahbaz Nadeem told Sporstkeeda.

If I get chances in the second half, I will surely give my best: Shahbaz Nadeem

Shahbaz Nadeem could feature in just a solitary game of IPL 2021 so far – returning with 1/36 against Royal Challengers Bangalore – and was benched for the rest. He has played in 10 games in the previous two seasons combined for SRH – also these are low returns for someone who has a couple of Tests under his belt and over 400 first-class wickets.

He even gets frustrated on being benched, but understands that with the depth of SRH’s squad in the spin department – all-rounders Abhishek Sharma, Mohammad Nabi, and Jagadeesha Suchith were prefered over him – it is difficult for him to make the cut. Nonetheless, Shahbaz Nadeem is hoping to get some game time when the season resumes and promises to give his best.

“In IPL, there is such a huge squad that it’s easy to get frustrated on not getting enough chances. But you need to keep yourself motivated. I did get a few chances last year, and I did well in Dubai. This year I got just one game in the first half. So if I get chances in the second half, I will surely give my best,” the 31-year old asserted.

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