SRH replace David Warner with Alex Hales March 31 2018 Alex Hales, England's explosive opener, has been picked by the SunRisers Hyderabad as replacement for David Warner. The batsman was bought for his base price of INR 1 crore from the Registered and Available Player Pool (RAPP) list, a BCCI release stated on Saturday (March 31). Having lost their otherwise captain, Warner, to the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa which subsequently had him banned from the Indian Premier League 2018 by the BCCI along with Steve Smith, Sunrisers named Kane Williamson to take over the reins. However, to fulfill the role of an opener that Warner would've fulfilled along side Shikhar Dhawan, SRH decided to pick Hales, who is the first and only English player till date to score a T20I century. Warner's loss will be a massive void to fill for the franchise given that the Australian opener had been a vital cog in SRH's fortunes over the years. He not just scored 2579 runs in 59 innings at a whopping average of 52.63 and an enviable strike-rate of 147.70, but also led Sunrisers to title glory in 2016. Thus, it was no wonder that the Sunrisers had used their Right-to-Match card to retain Warner. Hales, whose limited-overs exploits are no secret, is the only Englishman to feature in the top 10 list of the ICC T20I rankings. He has 1456 runs in 52 T20Is, averaging 31.65 with a strike-rate of 136.32. He wasn't snapped up by any of the IPL teams, going unsold in the auction earlier in the year. While fellow countrymen like Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes and Sam Billings attracted lucrative deals, there was no substantial interest for Hales. However, this is not the first time Hales will be seen in the IPL, having earlier played for Mumbai Indians in the 2015 edition. Back then as well, he had come in as a replacement, filling in for the injured Corey Anderson. For Islamabad United in the recently-concluded Pakistan Super League, barring a score of 46 in his opening game of the tournament, he had a lean run, unable to cross the 20-run mark.
KKR sign Tom Curran for injured Starc April 02 2018 Kolkata Knight Riders have drafted in England and Surrey pacer Tom Curran as replacement for Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc in IPL 2018. Starc was ruled out of the 11th edition with a 'tibial bone stress' in his right leg . He was also ruled out of the ongoing fourth Test between Australia and South Africa at the Wanderers. Curran, who made his T20 debut for Surrey versus Sussex in Hove in 2014, has been a fine performer in the shorter formats of the game. He has taken 53 scalps in 51 T20 games at an average of just over 27. In 2017, he shone brightly in the NatWest T20 Blast, snaring 12 scalps at 23.41. He took his career-best T20 figures of 4 for 35 against Essex during the 2015 T20 Blast. The Surrey pacer has also bagged 90 scalps in 60 List A games. Curran, son of former Zimbabwe all-rounder Kevin, made his T20I debut for England against South Africa in Taunton last year and picked up a three-wicket haul. One of his better performances in his short international career came in the Perth ODI this year, when he bagged a five-fer to help England overcome Australia by 12 runs. He again showcased his ability to bowl in the slog overs in the T20I against New Zealand in Hamilton last month to help his side win by just two runs. He has snared seven scalps at an average of 27.85 in six T20Is so far. Curran is also a useful batsman lower down the order, evidenced by his average of 19.05 and a strike rate of 128.36 in the shortest version of the game.
