Cricket News
Three reasons why Hyderabad has become the most disliked team in the Indian T20 League
Hyderabad have won the title twice in the history of the league.
The Indian T20 League is the most popular cricket league in the world. The tournament has a massive fan following as the stadiums are always seen full of the crowd cheering for their favourite teams. Hyderabad franchise was one of the most popular teams in the competition.
They have won the coveted title once in the history of the league. However, the team has lost a huge number of fans in the past few years due to several reasons. The situation has got so worse that they’re now being called the most disliked team in the league. Let’s take a look at the top three reasons why the Hyderabad franchise lost its fan following:
Treatment of David Warner
David Warner (Source: Twitter)
David Warner did a terrific job as a captain for Hyderabad, leading them to victory in 2016. The team performed consistently under his leadership in the following seasons as well. However, everything changed in the year 2021 as the team had its worst season ever. Warner’s poor form with the bat further exacerbated the situation. Seeing their captain completely out of touch, the team management decided to bench him.
This treatment meted out to Warner annoyed the fans, who lashed out at the team management. The management did another mistake of not retaining the star player before the mega auction. As a result, the fan base shifted to the Delhi team, who bought Warner in the mega auction in 2022.
Constant change in team management
Tom Moody, Trevor Bayliss and Brian Lara (Source: Twitter)
It’s said that the dressing room environment affects the performance of the team on the field. The Hyderabad franchise, between 2013 and 2019, reached the playoffs five times and won the title in 2016 under the leadership of head coach Tom Moody. However, he was removed as the Head Coach and replaced by Trevor Bayliss in 2020.
Moody was once again promoted to the position of Head Coach in 2022 after the dismal performance of the team in 2021. And now, the franchise has once again decided to change the head coach as they’ve got Brian Lara to do the job for the next season. This constant change and shifting of the team management haven’t done any word of good to the franchise.
Not retaining the star players before the mega auction
Rashid Khan-Jonny Bairstow (Source: Twitter)
The Hyderabad team management made another blunder when they didn’t retain their star performers of team before the mega auction this year. They let go of the all-rounder Rashid Khan and Jonny Bairstow, apart from David Warner. This move by the franchise invited further backlash from the fans who were hoping to see their favourite players play for Hyderabad again.
The move backfired big time as the franchise once again failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2022 ever after having a great start.
