IPL 2021: Disheartening to see David Warner struggle for SRH, says Kevin Pietersen

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has said Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) opener David Warner looks "disillusioned" and it is "disheartening" to see the Australian struggle for his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise.

Warner, who has been with SRH since 2014, had ended as SRH's leading run-scorer in each of the seasons until the last term. He even captained SRH to the IPL title in 2016. However, the former SRH skipper is experiencing a tough phase in the tournament in the underway campaign.

Warner registered scores of 0 and 2 in the two matches he played for SRH since the IPL 2021 resumed last month in the UAE before making way for England's Jason Roy.

Pietersen, who represented Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS), Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) during his IPL career, expressed his disappointment at not seeing the former SRH captain wear the orange jersey in the remainder of the IPL 2021 campaign.

"David Warner just is Sunrisers Hyderabad, so it's disheartening to see his love affair with the franchise unravelling like this. He has scored so many runs for them over the years, captained them to the title, and has been at the heart and soul of everything that they do," Pietersen wrote in his blog of Betway Insider.

Former England captain Pietersen went on to add that there might be things happening behind the scenes in the squad which no one knows about.

"He looks totally disillusioned now, and there are clearly things happening behind the scenes that we don't know about," added Pietersen.

With 5,449 runs from 150 matches, Warner is the fifth highest scorer in the IPL with four centuries. He also holds the record of most fifties in the tournament – 50. He has scored 500 runs or more for seven consecutive seasons, starting 2014. The streak has come to an end in 2021.

Warner has scored only 195 runs in eight matches at an average of 24.37. Otherwise, his IPL career average is 41.59.

After being dropped by SRH in IPL 2021, Warner hinted on social media that he may not play again for SRH again in the IPL 2021.

"Unfortunately, won't be again but keep supporting please," Warner said in reply to a comment in which a fan asked if he was present in the stadium during the game against Rajasthan Royals earlier this week.

From two wins in 11 matches, SRH have already been eliminated from IPL 2021. This is for the first time since 2015 they have not progressed to the next level in the tournament.

SRH's next take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday (Oct. 3) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.