SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) assistant coach Brad Haddin has revealed that David Warner sportingly embraced the team management's decision to remove him as skipper in the now-suspended 14th edition of the Indian Premier League. SRH had removed Warner as captain and the former skipper was not even in the playing XI for the game against Rajasthan. Haddin admitted the announcement came as a "shock" but praised the Australia opener for taking the decision with "class". "He took it with class. It was a bit of a shock to everyone. Management decided to go in a different direction to try to spark something within the team. We weren't playing to the standard we needed to. With Davey, the way he handled it was all class. He just got on back with the job," Fox Cricket quoted Haddin as saying.
"I dare say he would have come back in contention in the next few games. He is one of the best in the world in that form of the game. You only had to look at the way he reacted when he came onto the bench. He was around everyone, running the drinks out. He was still really vocal in the meetings. He handled a difficult situation with a lot of class," he added.
Post SRH's loss against Rajasthan Royals, head coach Trevor Bayliss said that it was a difficult decision to drop Warner from the playing XI.
Haddin, Warner, and the rest of the Australian contingent had been moved to the Maldives as a transit point on their journey back home following the suspension of IPL 2021.
The safety of every individual involved in the IPL was one of the major reasons for the BCCI and the IPL Governing Council to unanimously decide on the suspension of the league on May 4.