David Warner on Wednesday stepped down as the captain of SunRisers Hyderabad a day after Cricket Australia (CA) announced that it has found him, skipper Steve Smith, and Cameron Bancroft guilty in the ball-tampering scandal, and suspended the trio for the fourth Test in Johannesburg, beginning Friday.
“In light of recent events, David Warner has stepped down as captain of SunRisers Hyderabad. The new captain of the Team will be announced shortly,” K Shanmugam, CEO, SunRisers Hyderabad announced.
Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Rajeev Shukla on Tuesday said that the committee will talk to Sunrisers Hyderabad on their decision over Warner's captaincy.
Advertisement
"I think we should be announcing our decision by tomorrow (Wedesday after looking at the decision of Cricket Australia. We are also going to talk to Sunrisers Hyderabad that they should also consider about Warner being the captain," Shukla had told ANI Tuesday.
For the unversed, CA had announced that it has found Smith, Warner, and Bancroft guilty in the ball-tampering scandal, and suspended the trio for the fourth Test in Johannesburg, beginning on Friday.
"Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft all charged after it was found they had prior knowledge of the ball tampering incident. No one else was aware," Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland told reporters.
Advertisement
Cricket Australia will announce sanctions on Smith, Warner, and Bancroft in the next 24 hours.
"Clearly we are not at all comfortable with what has taken place. Sanctions will be issued tomorrow and they will be significant," Sutherland said.
After the CA investigation, all three players were found guilty of breaching article 2.3.5 of Cricket Australia's Code of Conduct and will fly home from South Africa on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Darren Lehmann will continue to coach the team.
Earlier, Shukla had mentioned that Steve Smith's participation in the upcoming IPL season will be decided after Cricket Australia's report.
"We were waiting for Cricket Australia's report. We have already written to them and we are expecting their written reply. The moment it comes, we will be deciding about it. If they are going to punish him then we will also think on those lines," Shukla told reporters.
Smith has already stepped down as captain of Rajasthan Royals, his IPL franchise, following the ball-tampering controversy.
The 11th edition of the IPL will start from April 7. Rajasthan Royals are scheduled to play their first match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 9.
(With ANI inputs)
