David Warner set to captain Delhi Capitals in IPL as Rishabh Pant recovers from horror accident

David Warner is set to make a surprise return to captaincy amid ongoing rumours over his place in the national side.

David Warner‘s Test future may be a matter of some conjecture but his white-ball status remains undiminished, with the opener to captain the Delhi Capitals in the IPL, as regular captain Rishabh Pant remains out after a horror car accident in December of last year.

Warner previously captained Delhi on an interim basis during his first stint with the franchise between 2009 and 2013, before being bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014 and taking on the captaincy in 2015, leading them to a maiden title in 2016.

He has the fifth best record as skipper in the tournament, winning 35 of the 69 matches he has been in charge.

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He will join familiar faces in leadership at Delhi, with Australian great Ricky Ponting serving as head coach.

Warner was the leading runscorer for the Capitals in last year’s edition of the tournament, scoring 432 runs at 48.

Australia’s David Warner has recovered from a fractured elbow. Picture: Money Sharma / AFP

The 36-year-old is back in India with the Australian ODI squad but his readiness for the opening clash on Friday night remains unclear despite recovering from a fractured elbow suffered during the second Test.

His absence opened the door for Travis Head to bat at the top of the order and his success, scoring 176 runs in four digs, raised some questions about Warner’s red-ball future after his early series failures.

Australian coach Andrew McDonald guaranteed Warner was firmly in the plans of national selectors for the World Test Championship final, against India at The Oval in July, but that was as far as his commitment went as retirement talk loomed.

“I think you work through that conversation, and how each player finishes is always different,” McDonald said.

“Some want to go out in a certain way, and others are OK with potentially being dropped out of sides. But at the moment Dave’s fully in our plans for the World Test Championship, he’s coming back for the one-day series, he’s recovered from his injury there, so we’ll see Dave back in Australian colours on the 17th and we’ll go from there.

Warner remains a favourite in India. Picture: AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A

“We are continually talking to our senior players with what they have coming up. Juggling the schedule that’s in front of us, we are staring down 274 days on the road – 144 for the red-ball team, 130 for the white-ball team.

“So there’s going to be some give and take within that. We have some great depth, got coverage in all areas and we are always talking to our senior players with where they are at in regards to their careers.”

Warner has declared his intention to play on in Australia’s ODI and T20 side until at least the next T20 World Cup in 2024 and potentially beyond that in franchise cricket.

His lifetime captaincy ban for Australian teams remains in place, part of the penalty for his role in the sandpaper scandal in 2018.

- with NCA Newswire

Originally published as David Warner set to captain Delhi Capitals in IPL as Rishabh Pant recovers from horror accident