Candice Warner hits some balls at NSW golf club after David Warner is dumped from the IPL team

Australian cricketer David Warner was mysteriously dropped as captain of his Indian Premier League team on Saturday as the world’s most expensive cricket tournament continues in a nation battling a horrific Covid ‘second wave’. 

And on Monday, David’s wife Candice put on a brave face and let off some steam hitting golf balls at the exclusive NSW Golf Club in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

After working on her swing on the driving range and practicing her putting, the retired ironwoman turned Olympics commentator, 36, told Daily Mail Australia the couple and their three daughters are coping well – despite David’s uncertain future in India where 3,000 a day are dying from Covid.

‘We are doing fine.. we are all good, thank you,’ Candice told Daily Mail Australia.

She certainly looked the part at the prestigious course in La Perouse, wearing a white Callaway cap, black sunglasses, a sports skirt and navy polo shirt as she practiced with her mother, Kerry Falzon.  

Meanwhile, in India, mystery surrounds the dumping of Warner, whose IPL contract is worth approximately $2.3 million, with South African cricketer Dale Steyn claiming something ‘must be going on behind the scenes’ for Warner to be dumped.

‘It is very strange to not see him as part of the [Australian cricket team]. There is something going on there. I don’t know what’s going on there really but it’s strange,’ he told Cricinfo.

‘To give up captaincy is one thing but you’d still want him in the [game]. He is still a great player.’ 

‘I don’t know whether David may have questioned some of the decisions made when Pandey left out… There is something definitely happening behind closed doors that the public are not aware of,’ he said.

Meanwhile, on the golf course, the mother-of-three engaged in conversation with one of the club’s professionals and her mother as she walked across the practice putting green.

On Saturday, the Sunrisers Hyderabad announced David had been dropped as captain of the IPL and will be replaced by New Zealander Kane Williamson.

Warner may even be sidelined for the team’s upcoming match against the Rajasthan Royals – with English batsman Jason Roy appearing to be a likely replacement.

He first joined the club in 2014 before going on to captain the side in 2016 and then losing the role due to the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.

He led the team again in 2020 after taking over the captaincy from Williamson.

In a statement, the ‘Sunrisers Hyderabad said the decision to drop Warner had ‘not come lightly’ and they respected the enormous impact the Australian star has had for the franchise ‘over a number of years’. 

‘As we face the remainder of the season we are sure David will continue to help us strive for success both on and off the field,’ the statement read.

The Sunrisers have had a woeful start to the season winning just one of six matches with Warner copping criticism for his recent performance scoring 57 runs off 55 balls against the Chennai Super Kings.

The 34-year-old accepted responsibility for the lacklustre performance.

‘I take full responsibility for the way I batted, I batted slow and hit the fielders,’ David said.

‘I probably hit 15 good shots to fielders and they are the ones that make or break the innings. I took too many balls.’

Warner, who is known as one of the leading batsmen in the IPL, is holding an unusually low strike rate of 110.28 this season.

 

The uncertainty around Warner comes amid India’s worsening Covid-19 crisis with fellow Australian stars including Steve Smith and Pat Cummins all unable to return home.

Thirty-four Australians remain in India – 12 players, 11 coaches, four commentators, two umpires and five support staff, as well as a commentator from New Zealand who lives in Australia.

As many as 9,000 Australians – including the country’s top cricket players – have been stranded in India by the government’s ban on flights from the Covid-ravaged nation until May 15.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison suspended all direct commercial flights and chartered repatriation flights on Tuesday afternoon as India suffers a huge surge in cases and deaths.