Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) had a fair share of controversy in Indian Premier League (IPL) last season after they abruptly replaced David Warner as captain. The off-field decisions reflected in the team’s on-field performance as it languished at the bottom of the points table in IPL 2021. And looks like not much has mended this year as well.
Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson reckons that SRH camp started looking uncertain even before the start of the tournament, as Simon Katich quit his role as the assistant coach of the team.
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Katich stepped away from his role as Tom Moody’s deputy in less than two months of his appointment. While Katich cited bio bubble fatigue as the reason behind his resignation, a report by The Australian claimed that the former Aussie batter quit the job due to differences with the team management during the auction.
“Alarm bells started when Simon Katich left just after the auction. That’s normally not a great sight because Katich is one of the most generally good people. It’s really injustice if people really go against what they say.
“So obviously something has gone down there that Katich stepped away immediately and won’t be a part of it. That’s a warning sign to start with,” Watson said while speaking YouTube channel The Grade Cricketer.
Watson added that SRH team composition looked weak and their performance in their season opener against Rajasthan Royal (RR) was not a very encouraging indicator for the fans.
“The make-up of their team is not incredibly strong and then how they have performed in the first game. Yes, Rajasthan Royals have a very good squad, and they played really well, but it’s not looking great. It feels like there is a lot of stuff around the team that is obviously not helping everything on the field,” he said.
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SRH suffered a humiliating defeat in the game against RR and was beaten by 61 runs while chasing a target of 211 runs.
Watson who announced retirement from IPL after the 2020 season for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), has joined Delhi Capitals as an assistant coach. He is deputy to his former captain Ricky Ponting at the franchise.
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