Even though the Indian Premier League (IPL) is a 10-team tournament, veteran Australian opener David Warner feels only three franchises have the right to call themselves as ‘crowd favourites’ in the world’s richest T20 competition. One of the most decorated players in the white-ball format, batting icon Warner has plied his trade with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Delhi Capitals (DC) in the cash-rich league.
The Australian southpaw made his IPL debut with Delhi Capitals against MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK)at the Wanderers Stadium in 2009. A crowd-puller in the world’s richest T20 league, Warner joined Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in 2014 and capped off his best-ever IPL season in 2016. The stylish Australian opener guided SRH to their maiden IPL glory in the cash-rich league. Interestingly, Warner doesn’t consider Delhi or Hyderabad as crowd favourites.
In an interview with Fox Cricket, Australia’s Warner spoke at length about his recently concluded campaign with Rishabh Pant-led DC side at the IPL 2022. Warner feels there are only three teams in the IPL that enjoy a massive fan following across India. “It’s crazy. I think if you play…there’s three specific teams – Mumbai, RCB and Chennai. Doesn’t matter where you play them, even if you are at your home venue, there’s going for them. So yeah, you are up against it. So, hopefully, you don’t come up against them too often,” Warner said.
Five-time winners Mumbai Indians (MI) are the most successful team in the history of the cash-rich league. Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings franchise has lifted the famous trophy on four occasions while Virat Kohli-starrer Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has failed to end their title drought since the inception of the cash-rich league. Kohli’s RCB upstaged Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to enter Qualifier 2 of the IPL 2022 on Wednesday. Mumbai and Chennai have suffered premature exits in the 15th season of the celebrated league.
