‘If you are listening, play well else don’t play IPL’ – Virender Sehwag’s explosive ultimatum to David Warner after latter's sluggish knock against Rajasthan

Former India batter Virender Sehwag slammed Delhi Capitals skipper David Warner for his sluggish knock against Rajasthan Royals. Notably, Sanju Samson’s Royals brushed aside Capitals by 57 runs at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday, April 8.

Rajasthan’s opening duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler carved out scintillating knocks to power the side to attain a humongous 199-run first innings total. Jaiswal hit the ground running swiftly without wasting much time and slammed 60 off mere 31 balls whereas last season’s Orange Cap holder, Buttler registered 79 of 51 balls.

In response, Trent Boult struck two blows on the trot to keep Delhi reeling in the very first over during the chase. Despite Warner raising a 64-run partnership with Lalit Yadav and scoring a delicate half-century, the southpaw was unable to hit the ball cleanly.

As wickets kept tumbling, Warner too was sent packing after a lacklustre knock of 65 runs off 55 balls which eventually led to DC’s downfall. On that note, Sehwag slammed the Aussie southpaw and stated that he needs to up the ante and play knocks similar to that of Jaiswal’s to get his side ahead. 

“I feel it is time that we tell him in English now so that Warner listens to it and feels hurt. David, if you are listening, please play well. Score 50 in 25 balls. Learn from Jaiswal, he hit in 25 balls. If you cannot do that, do not come and play in the IPL,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.

“It would have been better for the team if Warner got out for 30 runs, rather than making 55-60. Players like Rovman Powell and Ishan Porel could have come out much earlier and maybe could have done anything. No balls were left for those players, and they are big hitters in team,” he added.

Delhi will need to quickly bounce back from their third straight loss in the IPL 2023 and win games from hereon to keep playoff hopes alive. Warner and Co. play a rather tricky match against five-time winners Mumbai Indians on Tuesday, April 11 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.