David Warner was dismissed for a three-ball duck on his return to IPL cricket. Anrich Nortje sent him back in just the third ball of his first over to rattle Sunrisers Hyderabad early on match 33 of IPL2021. As it turned out, SRH scored a paltry total and was chased down by Delhi Capitals with overs to spare.

Shane Watson, speaking on The Grade Cricketer podcast, said that Warner is a bit rusty but backed him to bounce back when he gets some momentum going.

“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” said Watson.

Captaincy Affected David Warner’s Game: Shane Watson

Shane Waston further said that being stripped captaincy of the franchise might have affected David Warner’s game. Warner was asked to step down as the captain after the franchise lost six games in the first half of the season under him. The southpaw was also benched for a few games before making a comeback against Delhi Capitals.

“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” said Watson.

The former Australian all-rounder concluded by saying that David Warner will make a comeback in the remaining games. He has been constantly scoring over 500 runs in the last few seasons. In this season he has scored 193 runs in seven games.

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