3 franchises that can sign David Warner in the IPL 2022 auction
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David Warner
Australian opener David Warner is undoubtedly one of the greatest players in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) has made a name for himself as one of the best in the business and arguably the most consistent cricketer in the IPL’s history.
Both in terms of his batting and captaincy, Warner has been as assured as one can get. Just when it seemed like nothing could go wrong for the Aussie in the IPL, it all went awry in IPL 2021. A horrendous run of form for the Orange Army resulted in them slumping to five defeats in their first six games. Warner was viewed as one of the key culprits due to his inability to accelerate when needed.
In what then came as a shocking move, the SRH management decided to remove Warner from captaincy and appointed Kane Williamson as captain. Further, Warner wasn’t even picked in the playing XI for the 7th match as Mohammad Nabi played ahead of him. SRH lost that match as well and there were calls for Warner to be reinstated into the line-up and that was when the IPL was suspended due to the surge in COVID-19 cases in the bio-bubbles of teams.
David Warner’s removal from captaincy and dropping raised an important question as to whether SRH would retain the opener if there is a mega auction next year. With the likes of Rashid Khan, Kane Williamson and Jonny Bairstow seeming like must-retain options, there is a chance for Warner to be let go.
If that is the case, these are the 3 teams who would want to sign him.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise have more often than not, had an overseas opener to give them blazing starts. Right from Chris Gayle to most recently Aaron Finch, RCB have always stressed on the importance of getting off to flying starts.
This season, they opted to open with Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal and while the latter was in sparkling form, the former strangely looked shaky. Calls for Kohli to bat at his usual No. 3 position came about and this gives rise to the possibility of getting someone like David Warner in next year’s auction so that Kohli can bat at 3 followed by Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers, thereby solving the No. 3 issue that they faced as well.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) did not have a good first half of the season in 2021 at all and this was largely due to their below-par performances and lack of intent in the top-order. Although the likes of Nitish Rana got runs, there were issues of inconsistency as well as run-rate which led to more pressure on the seasoned middle order.
Head coach Brendon McCullum admitted that changes were necessary and in fact, he had stated that changes were coming just before the IPL was suspended. For next season therefore, a solid overseas opener is what KKR would be after and there won’t be much better choices for that than David Warner.
Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals (RR) were plagued by a plethora of injuries this season which led to them struggling at times. Despite the shaky performances, RR did manage to secure three wins at the halfway stage of the season. Their overseas stars and the Indian pace attack were largely responsible for the same, along with captain Sanju Samson.
Although Jos Buttler came good in the final game before the IPL’s suspension, there were no huge partnerships put up by the RR openers in all of their matches. RR went for Manan Vohra in the beginning who disappointed before going for Yashasvi Jaiswal who looked promising. But RR would definitely want to boost their overseas contingent and hence, David Warner could be a smart signing which could allow Jos Buttler to bat in the middle order along with the likes of Ben Stokes.
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Nevin Clinton
(2399 Articles Published)