Warner partied more than he practiced, fought with players: Sehwag

Former India and Delhi Capitals opener Virender Sehwag has revealed that Australia batter David Warner struggled with discipline in his maiden IPL season in 2009 and gave a hard time to the team management.

Notably, Warner started his IPL journey with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2009 and was released after the 2013 season. He spent the next 8 years at Sunrisers Hyderabad before re-joining DC in 2022.

Recalling Warner’s first year in IPL in 2009, the then Delhi Daredevils captain Sehwag revealed that the Australia opening batter used to party more than he practised and he even fought with a couple of fellow DC players, due to which he was sent home.

At the Brabourne Stadium in #IPL2022 

A streak of  wins for DC  A streak of  50+ scores for Davey #YehHaiNayiDilli | #DCvSRH#TATAIPL | #IPL | #DelhiCapitals | @davidwarner31 pic.twitter.com/D7heQLiQVi

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) May 6, 2022

“I too have vented out my frustrations on a couple of players and David Warner was one of them. Because when he had joined newly, he partied more than believing in practice or playing matches. In the first year, he had a fight with a few players so we sent him back for the last two matches,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.

“So sometimes it happens that you keep someone out to teach them a lesson. He was new so it was important to show him that you alone are not important for the team, others are too. There are other players who can play and win the match for the team too. And that’s what happened. We kept him out of the team and won as well,” Sehwag added.

Notably, Warner was involved in a big controversy last year as he was stripped of SRH captaincy midway through the IPL 2021. The opener was even dropped from the playing XI.

Warner was eventually released by Hyderabad and then he was picked up by Delhi at the IPL 2022 mega auction in February for Rs 6.5 crore. He has been in hot form this season having scored 356 runs so far at an average of 59.33.