David Warner shares brutal discovery after Travis Head's $1.2 million IPL payday

David Warner has called out his former Indian Premier League franchise, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), after making a brutal discovery in the wake of Tuesday night's record-breaking auction. Mitchell Starc became the most expensive player in IPL history after being picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a staggering $4.42 million.

Australia captain Pat Cummins briefly held the record after being bought for a whopping $3.67 million by SRH, before the Starc bid blew his Test skipper's deal out of the water. Cummins will be joined at the Hyderabad franchise by fellow Aussie teammate Travis Head, who was snapped up for $1.22 million.

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Head expressed his excitement about the deal with SRH by sharing the news on his Instagram story, with Warner learning a brutal truth after trying to re-share his Aussie teammate's message. Warner's attempts to share Head's story were met with a blank screen accompanied by a message that read “this story is unavailable”, indicating the 37-year-old had been blocked from his former franchise's social media account.

Warner took a screenshot and shared it to his own Instagram account with the message: “Trying to repost @travishead34 post but blocked from @sunrisers Instagram”. Warner discovered the brutal nature of the snub after seeing a message on Sunrisers Hyderabad’s official page that read: “You are blocked from following @SunRisers and viewing @SunRisers’s posts”.

David Warner was a former fan favourite at SRH

It represents a savage move from the IPL franchise which Warner starred for over a hugely successful eight-year period. Warner even captained SRH to their one and only IPL title in 2016. The veteran Aussie batter played with Hyderabad from 2014 - 2021 and was a fan favourite at the franchise after being the IPL's leading run-scorer in three seasons.

Despite being one of the most successful overseas batters in the history of the competition, Warner's relationship with SRH powerbrokers soured after he was dumped as captain before being released after the 2021 season. The Delhi Capitals ultimately snapped up Warner for the previous season of the T20 competition and opted to retain the 37-year-old Aussie cricket great head of this year’s IPL auction.

Hyderabad's move to block Warner from their social media pages suggests there is bad blood between the IPL franchise and the batter, who claimed he was blindsided about his axing as captain. “The disappointing thing for me was not being explained why I was dropped as captain," Warner told Sports Today in India in 2021.

“I think if you want to go along the lines of form, it’s a difficult one because I guess whatever you’ve done in the past would have some weight moving forward, especially when you’ve played 100 games for the franchise. You don‘t know who is going for you, who wants you to be selected, who doesn’t. End of the day you’re told you’re not playing. It’s difficult, a bitter pill to swallow, but I don’t think I will ever get answers and must move on.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad to feature two Aussie stars in 2024

Nevertheless, SRH will have two Aussies as part of their team for 2024, with Cummins relishing the chance to join the franchise and play alongside World Cup hero, Head. "Pumped to be joining SRH for the upcoming IPL season," Cummins said in a video on the Sunrisers' Instagram page.

"I've heard a lot about the Orange Army. I've played in Hyderabad a few times and loved it, so can't wait to get started. Great to see another Aussie in Trav Head over there as well. I think we are going to have a lot of fun this season and hopefully plenty of success."

The biggest story out of Tuesday night's auction was undoubtedly record-breaker Starc, who returns to the competition for the first time since 2015. The left-arm quick has prioritised his Test career with Australia and family life with wife Alyssa Healy - the pair having recently bought a property in Sydney for a reported $24.5 million.

The Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans all attempted to snare Starc, but it was the Knight Riders who came out on top for the rights to the 33-year-old during a fierce bidding war. Starc's fellow Test and ODI paceman Josh Hazlewood went unsold during the auction after being released recently by Royal Challengers Bangalore.

with agencies

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