IPL 2019: David Warner comes up with a refreshed look ahead of the next edition

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is here again and the fans will be keeping a special watch on two Australian stalwarts – Steve Smith and David Warner – whose year-long bans are set to end on March 29. The duo was handed the ban in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa last March and missed all of Australia’s international assignments since then.

They missed out on the IPL last year but are expected to play this year. They have also been excluded from the Australian national side for the ODI series coming up against Pakistan after the current India series.

Warner slammed a quickfire hundred in club cricket in Australia

The fans of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the champions of 2016 and runners-up last year, are already excited over the return of Warner, their former captain. Warner was injured during the Bangladesh Premier League earlier this year and missed the Pakistan Super League.

However, the dashing opening batsman showed that his form is not far away despite the injury as he lashed a century for his Sydney club – Randwick-Petersham – on Sunday, slamming 110 in just 77 deliveries (seven sixes and four fours). The Sunrisers will feel elated over the man’s still-remarkable capacity to hit big.

Warner was also seen in a video posted on the SRH’s social media accounts inviting the fans to go for the cheap tickets for 25,000 extra seats at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad for just Rs 500 in their first home game against Rajasthan Royals on March 29. The offer will be valid only for March 13 when the online counter will open at 11 am. The man also came up with a refreshed look where he was seen sporting a beard.

Here’s the picture

Warner has over 12,000 runs in international cricket with 35 centuries and Australia have struggled to find the replacement for both him and Smith over the last one year. The Kangaroos though have not decided on their fates for the World Cup and it is to be seen how they perform in the IPL. In the T20 league, Warner has scored over 4,000 runs in 114 matches with three hundreds and strike-rate of 142-plus since 2009.

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