David Warner replaces Kane Williamson as Sunrisers Hyderabad's captain ahead of IPL 2020

Sunrisers Hyderabad reappointed David Warner as their captain ahead of the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the franchise announced on Thursday.

Warner replaced Kane Williamson, who was given the captaincy after the Aussie was banned for the ball-tampering incident. Even after Warner had returned last season, Williamson had continued to lead the side.

In the last two years, SRH lost the final to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2018 before they finished fourth last season. Warner made a huge impact on the side as a leader and hence, SRH management have decided to return the charge to the man who led them to the title in 2016.

SRH broke the news on their various social media platforms. "Announcement. #OrangeArmy, our captain for #IPL2020 is @davidwarner31," wrote SRH with a video of Warner, who thanked the management for the opportunity and mentioned that he will still need Kane's help in the leading the side going into the 13th edition of IPL.

"Hi Sunrisers fans, it's David Warner here. I'm thrilled, to begin with, the captaincy for this coming IPL 2020. I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity once again to lead the team. I would like to obviously thank Kane for improving the way you guys led throughout the last couple of years, you guys have done an outstanding job and I'll be leaning on you guys for the support and your insights to the game as well.

And the management, thank you once again for giving me this opportunity and I'm sure I'll be doing my very very best to try and lead us once again to lifting the IPL trophy coming this year. So, thank you very much. And, Sunrisers fans, I look forward to seeing you guys out at the fortress and can't wait to see you.," Warner said in the video.

Having played with two sides in the IPL – Delhi Daredevils and SRH – Warner is the current fourth-highest run-scorer of the tournament with 4,706 runs at an average of 43.17. He is easily one of the best batsmen the league has seen as his average is better than all the players who have scored 3,000 or more runs in the IPL.

Warner, who has been associated with SRH since 2014, was the second highest run-scorer behind Virat Kohli in 2016 when SRH lifted the trophy. It was not a one-off season for him with the bat as he went on to finish as the leading run-scorer in IPL 2017 with 641 runs in 14 innings. The second batsman on the list, Gautam Gambhir, trailed Warner by 143 runs.

Warner missed IPL 2018 because of Cricket Australia's ban over the Cape Town scandal. However, that did not affect his form or game in any way as he returned to IPL in 2019 and once again topped the runs chart with 692 runs.

IPL 2020 is set to begin on March 29 but SRH's opening fixture is on April 4 when Warner and Co will take on defending champions Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad.