IPL 2018: David Warner steps down as Sunrisers Hyderabad captain

In the aftermath of the massive ball-tampering scandal, Australia's David Warner has stepped down as the captain of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Confirming the news, Sunrisers Hyderabad said Warner would not be taking charge of the franchise in the upcoming 11th edition of the IPL and that they would shortly announce the new skipper.

"In light of recent events, David Warner has stepped down as captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad. The new captain of the team will be announced shortly," the franchise said.

Earlier, Cricket Australia had announced that it has found Steve Smith, Warner, and Cameron Bancroft guilty in the ball-tampering scandal, and suspended the trio for the fourth and final Test against South Africa in Johannesburg, beginning on Friday.

After the CA investigation, all three players were found guilty of breaching article 2.3.5 of Cricket Australia's Code of Conduct and were sent back home from South Africa on Thursday.

Following the fiasco, Smith and Warner stood down as captain and vice-captain, respectively.

Smith, who was part of the "leadership group", admitted to charges of ball tampering, which took place during the third Test match in Cape Town, and stood down from captaining the side in the remaining days of the same Test.

In the following days, Smith also announced his resignation as captain of the Rajasthan Royals franchise.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has handed a one-match suspension and fined 100 per cent of his match fee to Smith for his leadership role in ball-tampering, while the global cricket body fined Bancroft 75 per cent of his match fee and handed three demerit points to him for breaching Level 2 of the ICC Code of Conduct.

The incident took place during South Africa's innings on Saturday afternoon when Bancroft was seen on television holding a small yellow object while rubbing the rough side of the ball, before hiding the object in his pocket, then inside his trousers.

The eleventh edition of the IPL will start from April 7. Rajasthan Royals are scheduled to play their first match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 9.