3 players SRH can sign if Fazalhaq Farooqi is withdrawn from IPL 2024 ft. Josh Hazlewood
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) is in the news for all the wrong reasons for withdrawing the No-Objection Certificates given to three of their players to compete in franchise leagues across the world.
Spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman was the first player to get affected by this new rule. He was not allowed to play for the Melbourne Renegades against the Melbourne Stars in the KFC Big Bash League on Tuesday.
The ACB said that Mujeeb, along with seamers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq, would be sanctioned as they did not intend to sign central contracts for 2024. The trio will not be considered for NOCs for the next two years, the board said.
It is feared that the board may not revoke their order, which might affect a few teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
The SunRisers Hyderabad, who have Fazalhaq Farooqi in their ranks, will be deeply affected if this ruling is upheld.
In this listicle, we bring to you three players that the SunRisers can sign if Farooqi is indeed withdrawn from IPL 2024.
#1 Josh Hazlewood
Josh Hazlewood, although a bit expensive, can be a good replacement for Farooqi.
The tall fast-bowler, who is a part of the dangerous Australian troika along with Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, unfortunately went unsold at the auction held in December last year.
Hazlewood's ability to hit the deck hard and bowl consistently in challenging areas sets him apart from his competitors. He can add a lot of value to the Sunrisers with his skills; he will be reunited with his Australia captain Pat Cummins here.
Hazlewood is a tough competitor and is not known to give runs away easily. He has an expert skillset and will be quite tough to score runs against.
However, the caveat with Hazlewood is that he will be available only for the month of May.
#2 James Neesham
James Neesham was among those overseas stars who went unsold at the December auction.
Neesham, although not an out-and-out fast bowler, can add a lot of depth to the SunRisers Hyderabad with his batting skills. The Kiwi is known to be a big hitter of the ball, and this will help the Hyderabad-based franchise a lot.
When asked to do so, Neesham can bowl quite a few handy overs and keep the opposition's scoring rate in check.
Getting Neesham as Farooqi's replacement can work rather well for Hyderabad, as they will be able to get an all-rounder who can turn the game their way whenever things look tough from the outset.
#3 Adam Milne
Kiwi seamer Adam Milne, who too went unsold in the December auction, can prove to be good value for money for the SunRisers.
Of all the options that we have discussed so far, Milne is perhaps the only like-for-like replacement for Fazalaq Farooqi although he is right-handed.
The Kiwi is express-fast, and this is a quality that will endear him a lot to the Hyderabad-based franchise. Milne, who is renowned for his ability to bowl well in the death overs, will help the SunRisers weed this issue out of their bowling attack.
This is something that Farooqi is extremely good at, and Milne will be able to recreate that quite comfortably. He is rather tall as well, and this will help him generate steep bounce off a length.