David Warner steps down as Sunrisers Hyderabad captain

Australian batsman David Warner has stepped down as captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad, the franchise announced on Wednesday. Warner, also the Australia vice-captain, along with two other players was sent home from South Africa for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal during a Test match in Cape Town.

“In light of recent events, David Warner has stepped down as captain of SunRisers Hyderabad. The new captain of the team will be announced shortly,” K. Shanmugam, CEO, Sunrisers Hyderabad, announced on the franchise's Twitter handle.

Steve Smith, the Australia captain, and opening batsman Cameron Bancroft were the other two players sent home during the ongoing Test series in South Africa. Smith, who was banned by the ICC for one Test and fined 100% of his match fee, had earlier stepped down as captain of Rajasthan Royals.

Ajinkya Rahane replaced Smith as captain of Royals.

Smith had admitted that his side deliberately tried to tamper with the condition of the ball in order to make the ball swing more. Bancroft was caught on television cameras appearing to rub a yellow object on the ball before he was reported by the umpires.

Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland flew to South Africa in an emergency to conduct an inquiry. He said late on Tuesday that significant sanctions will be imposed on all three players and that an announcement will be expected on Wednesday.