Australia's star cricketer David Warner is one of the most popular overseas players in India especially in the Indian Premier League (IPL) given the fan following he has in the country. Over the time, he has proved his mettle in the glitzy league and earned a whole lot of fan base in India where he is hugely admired and loved.
And, ahead of the IPL mega auctions, Warner said that when he goes to India and plays in the IPL, he sees the tournament as the best in the entire cricketing world. Warner also added that he gets a lot of insights from the IPL whenever he plays international matches for the kangaroos in India. Warner also opened up on his experience while playing in the IPL and how the league played an instrumental role in improving his game. He is one of the best batters in IPL cricket. Till now, he has scored 5449 runs in the IPL at an average of 41.60.
“When I go to India, I see it as playing the best tournament in the world. But I am getting a lot of practice and insight for when I have to go there for Australia, whether it is for Tests or ODIs,” said David Warner in a chat with Brett Lee on the former Aussie pacer’s podcast.
Warner also added that the people in India are very humble, and have welcomed him as well as his family for a decade now.
“The number one thing for me is how humble everyone is there (in India). They have welcomed my family with open arms and obviously me for the last decade,” added Warner.
David Warner also mentioned that he loves meeting people in India. Adding that the people in India have given him so much love, the 35-year-old concluded by stating that he owes India a lot.
“I love going out and meeting people there. I know it can be a security risk at times because we can create a bit of a crowd. I love mixing with the locals. They have given me so much. I think we owe India a lot. I’d love to be involved in some of their programs with cricket,” concluded Warner.
The IPL mega auctions will be held on 12th and 13th February in the city of Bangalore before the 15th edition of the tournament.
A total of 590 players will be auctioned at the IPL 2022 mega auction of which 370 are Indians and 220 overseas.
There are 228 capped players while 355 are uncapped and 7 belong to Associate nation players at the IPL 2022 mega auction.
Earlier, in an interview with the Sportstar, BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly revealed that Mumbai and Pune will be hosting the league stage matches while the venues for the knockouts will be decided later.
Ganguly said, “It (IPL 2022) will be held in India this year, until and unless the COVID-19 hits the roof. So far, it has been decided that the IPL will be played in India. As far as venues are concerned, we are looking at hosting the matches in Maharashtra - Mumbai and Pune. We will then take a call on the venue for the knockout stages.”
Mumbai houses three cricket stadiums out of which Wankhede tops the charts of popularity while they m also have the DY Patil Stadium and the CCI Brabourne stadium. Pune has one stadium that can perfectly play host to the electrifying IPL fixtures.
