IPL 2023: David Warner hits back at critics following Delhi's first win of the season

Veteran IPL batter David Warner's Delhi Capitals finally won a game this season after going down in five successive matches before this. Although Warner has runs under his belt in IPL 2023, having completed four fifties in six matches, he still looked far from convincing until against KKR the other night, where he turned back the clock with a 41-ball 57.

Unlike how it fared in the games before Wednesday, where Delhi used to lose a cluster of wickets inside the Powerplay - this time, they remained on 61 for one by the end of six overs in the chase of 128. Pin-pointing this as the difference-maker in his approach, Warner said he enjoyed taking on the bowlers without worrying about shouldering the responsibility of bailing the team out of trouble early on.

"We didn't lose three wickets in a row. There are going to be a lot of critics out there to suggest that I haven't been batting the way I normally bat. But when you lose three wickets in a row in two overs, and I faced three balls, what can you do? You can't really do anything. You have to have some sense of responsibility. Just like little Bangalore. You know (if) I get out, people would have criticised me getting out but that's just the game, that's how it is," Warner replied to his critics who questioned his strike rate in the games earlier.

On a track that didn't look like providing the best balance between bat and ball, Warner struck 11 fours, four of which had come in Sunil Narine's first over. Opening up on how it was batting with a different approach against KKR, Warner said he felt like finding his rhythm back and even added before the match, he did have a couple of good net sessions that paid dividends.

"For us, it's about backing yourself and coming out and executing your skills. I felt like my match-ups were there, and I'll take the powerplay on. And we didn't lose wickets in clumps in the first two overs. So that plays a big role as well. But for me, I felt that I had my rhythm back again, I had a good couple of net sessions. I was probably a bit tentative losing a lot of wickets in the first couple of games, but for me, it's about going out there and just playing like the way I do and the way that I know, and then it's going to be better off for us and the team," Delhi Capitals captain added.

Meanwhile, this win has opened DC's campaign in IPL 2023, and they will like to carry the winning momentum. They next face SunRisers Hyderabad on April 24th.