David Warner will take charge of Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023, replacing the injured Rishabh Pant. ESPNcricinfo has learned that head coach Rich Ponting and the management agree that Warner is the best candidate to be named interim captain while Pant recovers after surviving a horrific car accident in December.
With Pant banned from cricket in 2023, the Capitals must look for an interim captain and Warner stands out among the candidates, which could include Aksar Patel as vice-captain for 2022.
This will be Warner’s second time captaining the Capitals. , having served as Caretaker captain for several matches in his final year with the team for the first time between 2009 and 2013 (then as Derry Daredevil). Warner was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 201
and became captain a year later. In 2016, Warner Sunrisers were crowned champions. Warner is the fifth most successful captain in terms of wins: of the 69 matches he led, Warner’s teams won 35, lost 32 and drew two. Captain
has never let Warner down, and the numbers back it up: he has 2,8
0 starts, an average of7.33, 12.28 runs, a century and 26 fifties.
But ironically, it was his poor form in the first half of IPL 2021 that forced Sunrisers to drop him before Kane Williamson replaced him as captain. That led to a bitter row between Warner and the Sunrisers, who released him ahead of the 2022 massive auction, when the Capitals bought him for 625 million rupees, or about $762,000 at the time.
Warner was the leading product for Capitals in the recent IPL, with
32 runs at an average of 8 at a healthy strike rate of 150.52, including five half-centuries.
However, the Capitals narrowly missed out on the playoffs after a heartbreaking loss to the Mumbai Indians in a must-win league game.
Warners had a difficult first half in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and had to return home after being elbowed off Mohammed Shami’s short delivery in the second Test in Delhi. Although his Test career is coming to an end, Warner’s white-ball career remains strong and he will look to use his IPL experience to prepare him and Australia for the ODI World Cup, which will be held in India from October to November. .