Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) assistant coach VVS Laxman has heaped praise on David Warner, after the skipper led his side to their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title by beating Royal Challengers Bangalore by 8 runs in the final on Sunday.
Warner played a captain's knock of 69 from just 38 deliveries to power his team to a formidable total of 208. Describing Warner as a 'match-winner', Laxman lavished praise on the Australian's phenomenal batting performance and leading abilities.
"I think he led from the front. He is an inspirational character who is very positive and aggressive at the same time. His nature has rubbed off on a lot of youngsters. But the way he has batted, despite being under pressure of being one of the most important members in the side, has been phenomenal. He has had an impact on each and every outing," Laxman told iplt20.com.
Laxman believes Warner had given a lot of confidence and freedom to his bowlers and that was also one of the major reasons for the team's success in the tournament.
"I think he is a bowler's captain, giving freedom to bowlers. Especially when things are not going your way, you need your captain to back you and that's what our bowlers got from their captain. He is not an experienced captain, but the way he has led the team has been sensational. I hope that he continues that. He is a match-winner and a great person to lead us," he added.
SRH bowling contingent was one of the most consistent out of the eight teams. Led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who won the Purple Cap with 23 wickets, Hyderabad bowling was a revelation throughout the tournament.
"Ashish Nehra was fantastic for us at the start of the tournament; unfortunately we lost him because of injury. Yuvraj Singh came back from an injury and both he and Nehra have been leaders within the group. But the way Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman have carried the burden of being the strike bowlers throughout the tournament has been incredible.
"In the T20 format, we think that it is tough for bowlers to come and perform on flat wickets but the way Bhuvi picked up wickets with the new ball and then came in the death overs and bowled those accurate yorkers, picked up wickets and restricted the flow of runs was brilliant," Laxman said.