Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) mentor, VVS Laxman, has lauded the captaincy of David Warner, who led from the front to guide his team to a maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title on Sunday.
Laxman also praised Warner for ‘inspiring’ SRH’s youngsters throughout the IPL.
“I think he led from the front. He is an inspirational character who is very positive and aggressive at the same time. His nature has rubbed off on a lot of youngsters. But the way he has batted, despite being under pressure of being one of the most important members in the side, has been phenomenal,” Laxman said after SRH’s win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the final at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Warner was the leading run-getter for SRH with 843 runs in the competition at an average of 60.57, including nine 50 plus innings.
Laxman felt Warner made an all-round difference while leading the team and not just with his batting.
“He has had an impact on each and every outing. I think he is a bowler’s captain; giving freedom to bowlers, especially when things are not going your way, you need your captain to back you and that’s what our bowlers got from their captain. He is also not an experienced captain, but the way he has led the team has been sensational. I hope that he keeps on continuing that. He is a match-winner and a great person to lead us,” he said.
Sunrisers were dealt a big blow with the pullout of an injured Ashish Nehra but other bowlers rose to the occasion. Mustafizur Rahman impressed in his first IPL season and the season also saw a fitter and more accurate Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who ended up as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 23 wickets. Left-arm pacer Barinder Sran too contributed significantly to the team’s cause.
