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Sunrisers see glimmer beyond Warner

Hyderabad confident of success without title-winning skipper, with the opener dropping a couple of casual hints on social media

Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody believes his side will be able to cover the gaping hole left by David Warner as the franchise prepares for the upcoming Indian Premier League without their all-time leading run-scorer. 

Warner, who captained Hyderabad to their first and only IPL title in 2016, had his A$2.4 million contract for the 2018 season torn up in the fallout from the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal.

The left-hander is one of the most valuable commodities in the cash-rich T20 tournament and has blasted 2579 runs at 53 (strike-rate of 148) in four seasons (more than any other IPL batsman in that period) since joining the Sunrisers for their second season in 2014.

Warner's punishment, handed down by Cricket Australia for bringing the game into disrepute, does not preclude him from playing in overseas domestic tournaments but the BCCI stepped in to ban both him and Steve Smith from playing in this year's IPL.

While he won't don Sunrisers orange this season, Warner was closely following the Sunrisers' pre-tournament activities on Thursday as he dropped a couple of casual suggestions his teammates may yet see him in India in the coming weeks.

Among a series of comments from the 31-year-old's official account on a live Instagram feed of a pre-tournament function were the offerings, 'you will see me soon' and 'I will visit'.

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Either way, Moody believes the team is well-equipped to deal with Warner's absence from the playing field.

"With David Warner's suspension, at the end of the day he could have broken his thumb in the last Test and he would have been out of the IPL," Moody explained. 

"We have seen a number of players withdraw from the IPL from other franchises. It's one of those things, we certainly feel like it's a squad, it's a collective number, that wins championships. 

"Yes, David has been important to us for the last couple of years and he has led the team well and he has batted very well but we felt that, with the players we have within our squad, they're all capable of stepping up and taking the opportunity.

"We didn't foresee the situation that unfolded over the last few weeks, but we have a squad and a plan that has the back-up."

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New Zealand star Kane Williamson will step in as skipper while England opener Alex Hales has been brought in to replace Warner in the squad.

India opener Shikhar Dhawan firms as Hyderabad's key batsman in Warner's absence while towering Queenslander Billy Stanlake, fresh off his breakout T20 International campaign with Australia in February, could make an impact.

Hyderabad splashed out A$2.1m on batsman Manish Pandey in January's auction while they retained Afghanistan leg-spin sensation Rashid Khan for $1.7m. 

"We have a very well-balanced squad and we have a number of people who can fill different slots in the team," said Moody. 

"We're replacing a good captain in David Warner, who was the vice-captain of the Australian team, with another international captain. 

"From our point of view, we're not asking anyone to step out of their comfort zone. They're very familiar with the role of a captain. 

"The success we have had in the auction is reflective in the depth we have in the side. Despite losing an impact player like David Warner, we still feel like we can make an impact with our top six. 

"We can't do anything about David Warner and we have moved on from that. It's probably a good opportunity for everyone else to move on too."