Why is Kane Williamson not playing today in CSK vs SRH; who is Williamson’s replacement?

Why is Kane Williamson not playing today: Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson will not take part in CSK vs SRH tonight.

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson will not take part in tonight’s IPL 2019 match between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad following the death of his grandmother. Williamson has already returned back to New Zealand to be with his family in this moment of grief.

It is worth mentioning that an injury had allowed him to play only four IPL 2019 matches so far. Given the opposition in CSK, the visitors are most likely to miss their regular captain and senior batsman.

In the four matches which Williamson has played, he scored a mere 28 runs at an average of 9.33 and a strike rate of 87.50. In the four home games which SRH played against Williamson, they won three and lost just one.

Kane Williamson is one of my favourite captains….very very smart. #SRHvKKR #IPL

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 21, 2019

With five wins and four losses in nine matches, Hyderabad are currently at No. 4 in the points table.

Who is Williamson’s replacement?

As far as leading the side is concerned, fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar will wear the captain’s hat against Super Kings. In Williamson’s absence, Bhuvneshwar has led SRH in five matches this season, winning two and losing the other three.

As far as batting is replacing Williamson in the Playing XI is concerned, SRH are most likely to turn back to their previous combination of playing an overseas all-rounder in place of Williamson and include an Indian batsman in place of an Indian bowler.

Having dismissed seven batsmen in four matches at an average of 12.42, an economy rate of 5.49 and a strike rate of 13.57, Mohammad Nabi did justify him getting a go ahead of Shakib Al Hasan. The Afghanistan all-rounder looks almost certain to be included for tonight’s encounter against Chennai.

As far as the Indian batsman is concerned, Hyderabad might give another chance to out-of-form batsman Manish Pandey. Before getting benched, Pandey had scored 54 runs in six matches at a dismal average and strike rate of 13.50 and 93.10 respectively.

If Pandey gets going, he might play a dominant role for Hyderabad during the business end of the tournament especially in the absence of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow.

Having leaked 90 runs in the nine overs which he has bowled in a couple of matches, Shahbaz Nadeem seems likely to make place for Pandey.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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