Tag of defending champions means a lot: David Warner

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner had a dream run in the IPL last year. It was under his leadership that the Hyderabad franchise went on to win their maiden IPL title. On the personal front too, he was exceptional with the bat. His cumulative efforts with Shikhar Dhawan at the top order saw the Sunrisers through on most occasions. He finished with 848 runs to his name – next to only Virat Kohli who amassed 973 runs in the IPL 2016.

Now, the SRH side have a tag and a title to defend. They will walk in as the defending champions of the tournament. Skipper David Warner is very proud of this fact and said that it will give the team a lot of confidence going in to the game.

As per the quotes in India Today, the Australian opener quoted, “Defending champs. It means a lot. We take a lot of confidence out of last season. We know we have the capability to win the tournament which is fantastic.”

SRH beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore at Bengaluru by a narrow margin of 8 runs to lift the silverware last year. Warner recalled that it was hard to believe that they beat the Kohli-led franchise in their own backyard. He also cited how the team had defended many low totals in the tournament and that will help them this season as well.

“To beat RCB in Bengaluru was quite an achievement. In fact, it was hard to believe at first that we were champions. Most importantly, we defended some low totals last year and that gives us belief that we can do that anytime we are faced with a similar challenge,” quoted David Warner.

However, the skipper is not letting the tag get into the skins of the players. He wants to look forward and take things ahead from here. He further added that the Indian contingent of the SRH camp is in excellent form and that is helping the side as well.

“For us, it’s about moving forward and that was last year. It’s always hard to go back to back in any tournament so we will take it one game at a time. What is good is that We have pretty much the same line up but have added some good firepower to our squad. The boys and I are very excited,” Warner remarked.

“The Indians like Yuvraj, Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuveneshwar are in good form and we know Ashish Nehra is excellent in this format. With Fizz, our bowling unit looks in very good shape and I am sure we will mount a serious challenge this year also,” he added further.

Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore at Hyderabad in the season opener of IPL 2017 on April 5.