David Warner revealed that he was very much a part of Sunrisers Hyderabad during the Indian Premier League last year as well, even though he was at home after BCCI had banned him and Steve Smith from participating in the tournament following their bans accorded to them by Cricket Australia over the ball-tampering incident.
Warner said he was extremely emotional upon being back with his Sunrisers Hyderabad family and said he would forever be thankful to the whole franchise for supporting him in the past 12 months.
"It would be wrong for me to say I wasn't emotional. I text my wife and say 'look I can't get the smile off my face'. Because it's my second family, it was literally overwhelming because I'm back where I feel like I'm at home. I was just so thankful and grateful for the support the Sunrisers family and chairman and his wife and daughter showed to me in the past 12 months and I'll forever be grateful for that. The whole entire team was sending me nice messages and I was on group chat throughout the tournament last year as well. I was very thankful and pleased to be a part of that because I felt like I was there when I was watching it.
"That is what I really liked about last year when I wasn't available for selection, a few people wrote Sunrisers off. One or two people don't make up a team, there are 11 players and everyone has a strength. The way Kane led the side from the front, scored a lot of runs, backed up by the bowlers was fantastic. The guys batted around Kane and did their job very well and we made it to the finals. There's no doubt in my mind why we can't repeat that with the class of players we have. In our practice games, we managed to get through only the top 4 or 5 batsmen because the guys are hitting the ball so well. Even Yusuf Pathan is hitting the ball so clean. We've got so many players to choose from, it's a good problem to have. Sometimes in the past, we've tried to work out a balance that will be right and now, it's about we've got the balance but who all do we fit in that 11. Moving forward, those guys are going to play a pivotal role in the tournament but of course, it's upto the selectors and captain to chose the XI for the venue and the players we are coming up against because let's be honest, in T20 cricket it's a lot about match-ups now.
"We have [analysed other teams] and KKR have got a few injuries as well. We wait for the teams to come out and just play well. With other teams as well, there's good headaches and problems for coaches and selectors and captains for all franchises and that's the beauty of the IPL. You've got so much selection of players and quality players, that's what makes this tournament so good and successful. You've got the best players from around the players, great and fantastic young Indian players coming through and obviously experienced senior players as well. Go back a few years, it was like how do we get the balance right, may be throw this young kid in there and see what he can do. But now it's like 'wow, we've got so much talent in our teams'. Every team you look around is so strong," Warner told India Today.
