IPL 2019: Why there is no place for Kane Williamson in the SRH playing XI at the moment
Kane Williamson stunned every cricket fan in the world with his marvelous performances in the 2018 edition of the IPL. In spite of the absence of the team's talisman David Warner, Williamson made SRH a force to reckon with and took them all the way to the final.
The Kiwi player not only captained the team brilliantly but also led the team's batting department from the front with a tally of 735 runs. Hailed as a Test player by many, Williamson silenced his critics by winning the Orange Cap in IPL 11.
He was expected to lead the Orange Army in IPL 2019 as well, but an unfortunate injury ruled him out of the team's first match. Williamson returned to the playing XI soon but had to sit out once again to nurse his injury.
In his place, the team included Mohammad Nabi in the playing XI as the team's fourth overseas player. The former Afghan captain stunned everyone by picking 4 wickets against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Nabi then proved that his performance against Bangalore was not a fluke by taking 2 wickets versus Delhi last night. On top of that, he also smashed a 9-ball 17 to take SRH home during the chase.
These performances have all but sealed Nabi's position as the team's all-rounder.
Now the biggest question for Sunrisers is: if Williamson recovers, who will sit out?
Remember, a team can only have four overseas players in the playing XI, and Jonny Bairstow and David Warner have cemented their places with multiple match-winning performances. The team's third foreign player, Rashid Khan, is the Orange Army's most valuable asset, and they would never consider dropping him.
Thus, this leaves SRH with no option but to exclude Williamson from the playing XI. Axing Nabi will be very harsh at the moment and dropping any one of Bairstow, Warner or Rashid for a player who is coming back from injury does not seem like a smart move.
Hence, even if Williamson recovers from his injury, he may have to sit out of SRH's playing XI as there is no place for him in the team - at least until Bairstow and Warner leave the IPL for World Cup preparations.
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