The reasons for David Warner getting dropped from the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) squad has to be more than just his poor batting form, former India batsman and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has said. Warner was dropped from the SRH squad ahead of their match against Rajasthan Royals on September 27.

He was then dropped from squad for the match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday. While he watched the 7-wicket loss to RR from the team hotel, he was in the stands as SRH slumped to their 10th defeat of the season on Sunday.

“Reason has to be non-cricketing. Warner’s numbers over the last few years have been just mind-boggling. I think he is the best IPL batter we have ever seen with regards to longevity,” said Manjrekar. Warner has managed just 195 runs in eight matches this season, in stark contrast to his record in the previous seasons of the IPL. He indicated in comments on Instagram that he may never play another game for SRH this season and if that turns out to be true, this will mark the first time since 2013 that Warner has scored less than 500 runs in a season.

“His poor form has not been going on for so long that Warner gets dropped on batting form. So, it has to be a non-cricketing reason and we have no idea what that is. That is the other thing I don’t understand, why everything is so hush-hush, but there is something definitely going wrong there,” said Manjrekar.