Williamson doubtful for KKR clash; Bhuvneshwar to lead, says SRH coach Tom Moody

Last year, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) had an issue with their captaincy as the regular skipper, David Warner, was handed a year-long ban in connection to a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. However, the franchise overcame the challenge more than satisfactorily as Kane Williamson, who stepped in for Warner, had a terrific tournament, both with the captaincy and bat. While SRH reached the final, losing to Chennai Super Kings, Williamson finished as the highest scorer in the tournament with over 700 runs.

This year, there is a problem again. Even after the franchise decided to stick to the New Zealander and not go back to Warner who is making a comeback this season, it is an injury problem that has struck this time. Williamson suffered a minor shoulder muscle tear during the recent Test series against Bangladesh at home and is yet to recover fully. SRH are set to kick off their campaign in IPL 2019 with a game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens on Sunday even as the New Zealand captain remains a doubtful starter.

The orange brigade’s head coach, Tom Moody, while saying about the uncertainty over Williamson’s availability for Sunday’s game, also added that in his absence, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead the side since he is the vice-captain. The bowler, who ended up as the highest wicket-taker in the 2016 and 2017 editions, is one of the SRH’s mainstays this year as well.

Williamson’s not long-term injury, says Moody

“It’s not a long term injury, whether he plays, we will take a call tomorrow,” quoted Moody, a former Australian cricketer and international coach, said. “We have got quite a few days before our next home game. If he’s not available I don’t see any issues. Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) will lead our side since he’s is our vice-captain.”

“Kane is obviously the standing International captain who is admired globally on that platform and what he did with us last year, we felt that it seemed to make sense to continue that continuity,” Moody said.

Speaking on Warner’s role in the side, Moody said leadership is carried out in different ways, adding that the Australian opener still has a role to play in the team – be as a batter or during training or strategising during the game.

Here is the SRH squad for IPL 2019:

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