Reports: Sunrisers Hyderabad plan to replace David Warner with Kusal Perera
What's the story?
The Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL franchise are being reported to have approached Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Perera to replace the suspended David Warner, one of the plotters of the ball-tampering scandal against South Africa at Cape Town. "Yes, we have approached Kusal Perera as a replacement for Warner. Like Warner, he is also a devastating batsman and our analyst informed us that he has been in tremendous form in last few months. Though nothing has finalized as yet, we are hopeful Perera will join our squad," a Sunrisers Hyderabad official told Cricket Age.
In case you didn't know..
As a result of tampering the condition of the ball, Steven Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft were handed over severe sanctions by first the ICC and then Cricket Australia (CA). The ICC took the first step by banning Smith for one Test and docking his entire match fees, while Bancroft was fined 75% and given three demerit points.
In the days that followed, the CA CEO James Sutherland announced that while Smith and Warner were suspended for one year, Bancroft would remain out of the game for nine months. Also, Smith would not be allowed to lead the side for the next two years with Warner never getting the honors in the future.
The heart of the matter
Warner had resigned from the captaincy of SRH before being banned by CA, following in the footsteps of Smith, who had himself relinquished the Rajasthan Royals captaincy in the wake of the ball-tampering incident. Inevitably, both were also barred from participating in the IPL this year, with official word from the BCCI coming yesterday. Sri Lankan journalist Azzam Ameen, claiming to be aware of the developments, tweeted that SRH had been looking forward to roping in Perera, who can hit quick runs at the top as well as bat lower down.
“IPL team SunRisers Hyderabad has approached Kusal Janith Perera as a possible replacement for Banned David Warner, deal yet to be finalised,” read the tweet.
What's next?
The 11th season of the IPL commences on April 7 with defending champions the Mumbai Indians taking on the Chennai Super Kings at home, with the final also scheduled to take place at the Wankhede Stadium on May 27. The Sunrisers Hyderabad start their campaign against the returning Rajasthan Royals at home on April 9.
Author's Take
A call to Perera to take the place of Warner can be fairly called to be a like-for-like replacement with both being left-handed openers as well as having the ability to hit the ball big from ball one. Moreover, Perera brings the added advantage of being a wicket-keeper, thus fitting in to take the gloves if the first-choice wicket-keeper would be injured.
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