Former Australian cricketer Shane Watson opined that countryman David Warner has a lot going on in his personal life and the long injury layoff also had a bearing on him. Warner has been going through a dry patch this year and was also dropped from the Sunrisers Hyderabad team.
Warner failed on his return to the IPL 2021, falling for a duck to South African pace express, Anrich Nortje. In a conversation with The Grade Cricketer podcast, Watson delved into the issues surrounding Warner, none bigger than the injury that kept him out of action for a while.
“It’s more challenging, especially when you have a layoff like Dave did. He went into the Aussie summer last year having a break because of his injury. People expect you to just come in straight away and score runs but everyone gets rusty. Sometimes some people come in, like AB de Villiers, after having a break and just dominate like he usually does. But he’s a freak of nature.”
“And Warner, his life has evolved. He is in a phase where he is a father of three and he is moving in and out of bubbles now so it is harder to bring your family along. The circumstances of his life have changed and his priorities have probably shifted a little bit,” Watson elaborated.
Shane Watson believes being dropped as SRH captain also affected David Warner
After a string of poor performances, Warner had to step down as the skipper of the SRH squad. Kane Williamson took over the reins in the Australian’s stead. Shane Watson expressed concern that this decision adversely affected Warner’s batting and he needs to arrest the slide as quickly as possible.
“The Sunrisers setup, it seems as if there’s a bit going on in the background there. For Dave to get dropped as captain… even though you try and not let it affect your performance, there are these underlying things that have a bit of a negative impact on your ability to perform at times.“
“Dave’s a true Aussie battler. He knows how to be able to come through in situations where he has his back against the wall. That’s what he has always thrived on. He’s definitely got a lot of incredible cricket in front of him. He just seems like he hasn’t been able to get some momentum. It might just take him a couple of games to find his feet, but he is so incredibly good, he will bounce back,” Watson added.
Warner made his way back into the side this season after regular SRH opener, Jonny Bairstow withdrew his name from the IPL 2021.
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