Explosive English opener Alex Hales has been roped in by the Sunrisers Hyderabad to replace David Warner in the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad for the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Hales was picked up for his base price of Rs 1 crore as a replacement for 31-year-old Warner, who has been barred from taking part in IPL 2018 by the BCCI after Cricket Australia (CA) handed him a one-year ban for his role in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad have picked Alex Hales as the replacement for David Warner. The opening batsman was bought for his base price of INR 1 crore from the Registered and Available Player Pool (RAPP) list.IPL statement.
Hales is the first and only England player till date to score a T20I century. He is also the top-ranked English player and the only one to feature in the top-10 list of the ICC T20I rankings.
Hales has 1456 runs in 52 T20Is, averaging 31.65 with a strike-rate of 136.32. While fellow countrymen like Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes and Sam Billings attracted lucrative deals, there was no substantial interest for Hales, who went unsold.
However, this is not the first time Hales will be seen in the IPL, having earlier played for Mumbai Indians in the 2015 edition. Back then as well, he had come in as a replacement, filling in for the injured Corey Anderson. Apart from the IPL, Hales has played in the Big Bash League (BBL), Pakistan Super League and Bangladesh Premier League.
For Islamabad United in the recently-concluded Pakistan Super League, barring a score of 46 in his opening game of the tournament, he had a lean run, unable to cross the 20-run mark.
Hales will have big boots to fill as Warner was one of Sunrisers’ match-winners.
The Australian opener had been a vital cog in Sunrisers’s fortunes over the years. He not only scored 2579 runs in 59 innings at an average of 52.63 and a strike-rate of 147.70, but also led the side to title win in 2016. In fact, Sunrisers had used their Right-to-Match card to retain Warner ahead of this year’s auction.
Earlier this week, Sunrisers brought in New Zealand captain and middle-order batsman Kane Williamson as their skipper for this season after the Australian stepped down from his position as the captain of the franchise.
Warner has been banned by Cricket Australia for 12 months due to his involvement in the ball tampering controversy that took place during the third Test between South Africa and Australia in Cape Town.
(With inputs from PTI)
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