Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner wants to keep the momentum going

Captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad David Warner said that he would focus on carrying the momentum built with his IPL team through to the Champions Trophy. Warner, who has been in fine form during the ongoing IPL, will represent Australia in the mega-event that begins in June.

The Sunrisers skipper has already racked up 489 runs and has the Orange Cap sitting firmly on his head. Recently, he smashed a mammoth 126 against the Kolkata Knight Riders in front of a frenzied Hyderabad crowd. The left-hander sure hopes to maintain his form in the upcoming Champions Trophy in the UK.

“I hope so. Obviously, I am going to give my best all the time. For me, the last four months has been very effective. I want to keep that momentum going. Not just for me but playing for my country as well,” Warner said.

“It’s going to be a great tournament. You have to win every game basically to win the tournament. So for us, we are going to go out there and be positive. We got a great, balanced team, led by Smithie. We have positive thoughts and I really look forward to it,” he added.

He also shared that his side has found it hard to win the away games in the IPL this season. The Sunrisers Hyderabad have won just the one away game in this tournament against the Kings XI Punjab at Mohali.

“Away games have been a bit challenging for us. We are just missing the mark a little bit when we play away. But, the positive thing is we know that if we can make our way to the finals, we know that it’s going to be home. That’s another positive for us,” Warner said.

SRH are currently 4th in the standings with 13 points. They next face off against 3rd ranked Rising Pune Supergiant at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. With another game yet to be played in Hyderabad, SRH will look to make use of their home turf advantage to secure a berth in the playoffs.

“Obviously, we need to win a couple of more games before we secure the top-four. Hopefully, positively, may be finishing top two. We know that we are a good team and a day game as well. So, for us it’s about going out there and playing our best cricket and obviously starting as well as we can,” Warner said.

He was also all praises for Afghanistan leggie Rashid Khan, who took the IPL by storm with his incisive spells. Rashid has bagged 12 wickets this season and has maintained a brilliant economy rate of 6.82.

“He (Rashid) is a fantastic prospect for Afghanistan. It’s great find from the IPL. It’s great to give him opportunity and show his capabilities against the world’s best players,” he said. “I love meditation. On rare occasions like we were in Dharamshala, I want to go out in the open in the mountains and meditate a little bit,” he concluded.