Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) ahead of their clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS) named Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga’s replacement for the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Sri Lanka's 22-year-old leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth has joined SRH for his base price of Rs 50 lakh.
Earlier this week, Sri Lankan Cricket informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that the all-rounder won't take part in IPL 2024. He is nursing a left ankle injury and has been advised rest by an expert in Dubai as a precautionary measure.
Hasaranga was picked for Rs 1.5 crore by SRH in the mini-auction. He was expected to miss the IPL considering that the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies will commence just a few days after the final of the league.
Viyaskanth's T20 numbers
Viyaskanth has played just one T20I for Sri Lanka. He picked up one wicket on his T20I debut in the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023.
He was picked for MI Emirates in ILT20 2024 and bagged eight wickets from four games. Overall, he has 42 wickets from 33 T20 games. His economy rate is an impressive 6.76 runs per over.
SRH needed a quality leg-spinner in their ranks. However, it will be interesting to see how the team management fits the young leggie into the side considering they have their overseas spots filled with skipper Pat Cummins, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and Travis Head.
Before the clash against Shikhar Dhawan's PBKS, SRH were placed in the fifth place on the points table with two wins from four games.
SRH updated IPL 2024 squad
Pat Cummins (c), Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Sanvir Singh, Heinrich Klaasen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Agarwal, T. Natarajan, Anmolpreet Singh, Mayank Markande, Upendra Singh Yadav, Umran Malik, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Shahbaz Ahmed , Travis Head, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Singh, Jhathavedh Subramanyan.
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