David Warner is going through a low phase at present. But Sourav Ganguly, back at Delhi Capitals and set to be named as their team director, is optimistic about the Australian opener’s return to form and rhythm in this year’s IPL.

Warner’s red-ball record in India was far from extraordinary in the first place and in the first two Tests in Nagpur and Delhi, all that the left-hander could tally was26 runs in three innings before an elbow fracture ruled him out of the remainder of the series.

“This (IPL) is a different format altogether. So hopefully, he (Warner) will be back to his prime,” Sourav told The Telegraph at the end of the Capitals’ three-day camp at the JU Salt Lake campus ground on Monday.

“The wickets are usually good in the IPL. And he’s still a good batsman.

“Besides, all the Australian batsmen have struggled in the Test series. He’s not the only one. They find it tough to deal with the turning ball.”

Sourav looks forward to having some discussions with Warner, who’s the third-highest run-getter (5,881 runs) in the IPL after Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan, when he joins the Capitals’ camp. “I have a word with everybody, so I look to having some with him as well.

“He will be playing the one-dayers (versus India from March 17), so he’ll be joining the squad after that,” the former India captain and BCCIex-president stated.

In Rishabh Pant’s absence, Warner is set to lead the Delhi franchise this year.

Asked about his captaincy, Sourav said: “He has won an IPL as a captain (in 2016 for Sunrisers Hyderabad), which says a fair bit.

“I can’t say much though as so far I haven’t worked alongside him. I’ll be working with him this time, so I’ll find it out.”

Sourav also paid some extra attention to Manish Pandey during a nets session on Monday. “If you look at his record, you will see he gets out to leg-spin. So I’m just trying to minimise that and work on his overall game,” Sourav said.