Has the sun set on David Warner's Sunrisers era?

David Warner may have played his last match for Sunrisers Hyderabad after he was dropped once again for the Indian Premier League match against Rajasthan Royals.

Warner started the season as captain of the team, but after winning only one of six games, he was removed from the post and Kiwi Kane Williamson succeeded him.

In Warner's absence, SRH beat Royals by seven wickets, and his replacement Englishman Jason Roy scored a scintillating 60 off 42 balls. It was SRH's only second win of their 10 matches.

Warner watched the match from his hotel room and shared a story on Instagram of him cheering on Roy. Curiously, he also replied to a comment by an SRH fan who said that he was not in the stadium.

“Unfortunately won't be again but keep supporting please” Warner replied in the comments section of an SRH post.

After the game, Sunrisers coach Trevor Bayliss hinted that Warner may not feature anymore this season.

“We cannot make the final so have made a decision that we want the young players to experience not just the matches but time at the ground, around the setup, and for this match, we made the decision,” Bayliss said.

“He was not the only experienced player we left back at the hotel. We have a number of young players that have not been to the ground. Even as reserves. We wanted to give them an opportunity to come along and experience that. That may continue for a few more games yet.”

Warner had featured in the team's first two matches of the UAE leg of this season but returned with scores of 0 and 2.

Earlier this year, in India, the runs were coming from Warner's bat albeit he was nothing like his usual explosive self. His strike rate this season has been just 107—a little more than a run a ball.

With the team languishing at the bottom of the table—both now and then—the management decided to drop the 34-year-old captain. With four matches to go and the team all but out of contention for a spot in the play-offs, Warner may find it difficult to get back into the team this season.

What's more, the team is unlikely to retain him ahead of the big auction next year, which could bring an end to his 12-year association with the franchise.

When asked about it, Bayliss refused to discuss it.

“That certainly has not been discussed. This is the last year before a major auction. Those decisions will be made further down the line,” said Bayliss.

“He has been a great contributor to Hyderabad Sunrisers for a number of years now. He is very well respected with the amount of runs he has scored. I am sure he has got a lot more runs in him yet in the IPL.”

The legend of Warner

Warner has been a constant at the Hyderabad franchise over the last dozen years, scoring 5,449 runs—the highest-scoring foreigner and the fifth-highest of all players—and leading SRH to the title in 2016.

He is a much-loved figure among the Telugu-speaking crowd for his embrace of their culture and his viral TikTok videos of him and his family dancing to popular Telugu songs.

His lack of match time could concern Australia ahead of the T20 World Cup that begins on October 17. Head coach Justin Langer will be watching closely to see how he can get the best out of his out-of-form opener.

It must also be noted that with IPL teams heading to the auction next year, should SRH drop Warner, there will be teams lining up to sign the big-hitting Aussie.

Among the front-runners could be Royal Challengers Bangalore, whose long-time skipper Virat Kohli has announced he would not continue as captain. Bringing in an experienced hand like Warner could solve the new leadership puzzle for the franchise.

All of which depends on where the Sunrisers and their loyal leader goes from here. Fans of the team will be hoping that the sun has not set on his long successful stint at the team just yet.