IPL 2020: SRH captain David Warner makes a special statement for England's Jonny Bairstow

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain David Warner said he enjoys batting with England's Jonny Bairstow before adding he does not understand why people think there is so much "hatred" between the two countries.

Australia and England are among the biggest rivals in cricket and ironically, Australia's Warner and Englishman Bairstow have struck a great bond on the field as teammates in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Bairstow made his IPL debut in 2019 when SRH signed him. The two reached a 1000-run stand during SRH's 69-run win over Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on Thursday.

Warner and Bairstow put 160 runs for the opening wicket during SRH's game against KXIP that was played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. While Warner scored 52 runs off 40 balls, Bairstow was denied a second IPL century as he got out for 97 runs from 55 balls. The England batsman struck seven fours and six sixes during his innings that he played at a strike-rate of over 170.

Speaking about Bairstow at the post-match presentation, Warner said," We love batting with each other. We pride ourselves in running hard between wickets. At the moment, I am just rotating the strike for him (Bairstow). I don't know why people think there's so much hatred between the two countries! Look, we really enjoy batting together out there. We tried to take it to them and fortunately enough today we were able to get through the powerplay. We have a tough game against Rajasthan, it's a day game, hopefully, we can put 200 on again."

Warner also heaped praise on "world-class" Rashid, whose timely breakthroughs pulled SRH back into the game on Thursday. The SRH skipper also spoke about Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was earlier ruled out of the tournament due to a thigh muscle injury.

"He's (Rashid) a world-class bowler, it's great to have him. He always delivers in pressure situations. He loves that stuff. What a player. Sad for Bhuvi, we wish him all the best, but having one of our best death bowlers out of the team gives others an opportunity for others," added Warner, led SRH to the IPL title in 2016.

If Warner is in awe of Bairstow, it is true the other way around as well. At a post-match interview, the wicketkeeper-batsman also had good words to share about his skipper and opening partner – Warner.

"I was pleased, obviously my third fifty, but the consistency of getting them back-to-back is key," said Bairstow. When he was asked about batting with Warner, the Englishman said," It's good fun, we know what a quality player he is. I think it was his 50th fifty. That number speaks for him. Obviously, the dimensions and pitches here are different from the conditions we expect in India. The temperature is pretty different as well."

Bairstow and Warner have now climbed to No. 4 and No. 4 in the IPL 2020 points table, having scored 241 and 227 runs respectively in six innings each. KXIP captain KL Rahul is currently the Orange Cap holder this season with 313 runs in five innings at an average of 62.60. Meanwhile, SRH captain Warner is 63 runs away from joining Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, and Rohit Sharma in the 5,000-club in the IPL.

Among SRH bowlers, Rashid is the leading wicket-taker with eight scalps in six matches and overall, he is joint-sixth in the Purple Cap list. After the loss on Thursday, KXIP remained at the bottom of the IPL 2020 points table, while SRH have now gone up to the third place, having won three in six matches.

SRH will next take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Sunday in Dubai, while KXIP will lock horns against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.