David Warner says won't be at stadium again amid speculation of SRH stint ending
Dubai(PTI): Sunrisers Hyderabad's big-hitting opener David Warner, who has been dropped from the playing XI because of poor form, has said that he won't be seen at the stadium "again", hinting that his stint with the struggling franchise could be over.
Warner was axed last night from the game against Rajasthan Royals, which SRH won by seven wickets.
That win aside, the franchise has battled a poor run with only two wins from 10 matches, which has left them at the bottom of the points table and out of contention for a playoffs berth.
Warner's absence from the team dugout did not go unnoticed and fans wondered about his whereabouts underneath an instagram post by SRH.
Responding to the queries, Warner posted, "Unfortunately won't be again but keep supporting, please."
Warner has been woefully out of form this season, having accumulated just 181 runs in eight matches so far at an average of 24.37. His strike rate, at present, is the lowest in all his IPL stints, making it his worst season in the league.
The 34-year-old joined SRH in 2014 and captained the side to its maiden IPL title in 2016.
Dropped from the leadership role after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, he came back as skipper in 2020.
He was again removed as captain during the first leg of this season due to the team's poor run and differences with Team Director Tom Moody and head coach Trevor Bayliss.
"We can't make the finals, so we made a decision that we want the youngsters to experience not just the matches, but time at the ground and around the set-up," Bayliss had said at the post match press conference on Monday when asked about Warner staying back at his hotel room.
IPL sources have revealed that he will be released at the end of the season and go back to the auction pool.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Same rules were there earlier too, my question is who altered them: Harbhajan Singh
New Delhi (PTI): Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Friday asserted that the BCCI's 10-point policy for its centrally-contracted players has actually been in place since his playing days and wanted to know when was it "altered" and by whom.
Terming the guidelines "fresh documentation", Harbhajan said the move diverts attention from the team's forgettable on-field performance against New Zealand and Australia recently.
Days after the 1-3 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the BCCI has come up with a 10-point diktat to promote "discipline and unity", making domestic cricket mandatory, imposing restriction on the presence of families and personal staff on tours and banning individual commercial endorsements during series.
To Harbhajan, all these measures seemed like old wine in a new bottle.
"Let me first put this on record. When I was reading the travel policy document reported by the media, I hardly found anything new from the last time I represented India as a centrally-contracted cricketer," Harbhajan told PTI during an interaction.
"At least nine out of 10 points, including duration of family visits, staying in same hotel, practice timings, all are same. My question is if these rules were in place during my time, who all have altered it and when? That should be probed," Harbhajan, who has 700 plus international wickets across formats, said.
The same assertion was also made by one of Harbhajan's former India teammate Irfan Pathan.
For Harbhajan, what is certainly not funny is the timing of issuing these guidelines as he feels the discussion should have been strictly on cricket only.
"Hum log mudde se bhatak rahein hain (We are deviating from the main issue). We didn't lose 1-3 because wives and partners were there for two months. We didn't lose because someone travelled separately.
"We lost because we have played very poor cricket at times. We didn't bat well even at home. We have players who are horribly out of form. What are the course corrections being made? Or is it just these off-the-field things being discussed?" he questioned.
One of India's finest spinners, Harbhajan then recollected his playing days.
"I think some of the points needed to be revisited because they were being flouted. Like in our times, I never saw a Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid or Anil Kumble leave for Mumbai, Kolkata or Bengaluru just because the match has ended in three days and next game is a week away.
"They all stayed and travelled to next destination. Only change I see (in the new rulebook) is 150 kg suitcase allowance. Back in the day, we used to have lesser.
"Why would you need to tell players that you have to travel by team bus? That's a given. If someone was breaking the rule, that person needs to be probed."
While he completely supported barring the personal entourage of any particular player or a coach, Harbhajan felt that the BCCI can have a couple of quality chefs travelling with the team.
"BCCI has deep pockets. Why do you need to carry personal chefs. In soccer World Cup, big teams carry their own chef, who takes care of dietary requirements of players. Have a couple of team chefs. It is not a big deal," he added.
According to Harbhajan, the only thing new in the policy document is players requiring prior approval of head coach Gautam Gambhir on certain matters, and the former spinner didn't agree with that.
"In our times, it used to be written that prior approval of BCCI was needed on certain matters. So, for approvals, drop a mail to BCCI and ask for permission. Why does the head coach need to get into all this? That is not his job.
"His job is on the field and in the technical aspects where we are lacking. Administrative part should be left with competent people in the BCCI," he said.
