In between all the speculations, Kane Williamson has replaced David Warner to be the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2018. The decision comes after Warner stepped down from the captaincy, following his main plot in controversial ball tampering incident in South Africa. Warner is also barred to play in this years IPL.
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The franchise tweeted on Thursday, quoting CEO K. Shanmugam. “We are happy to announce Kane Williamson as the captain of SunRisers Hyderabad for IPL 2018,” Shanmugam said.
Kane Williamson has been appointed as captain of SunRisers Hyderabad for IPL 2018. pic.twitter.com/b5SMK8086U
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) March 29, 2018
Kane Williamson was glad to take up the responsibility. “I’ve accepted the role to stand in as captain for this season. It’s an exciting opportunity with a talented group of players. I look forward to the challenges ahead,” he said.
There were rumours of Shikhar Dhawan getting the role of captain, and with it, this years IPL would have all the Indian captains leading their franchises. However, SRH made it clear by choosing Williamson that they want to stick with the proper captaincy option.
A low-lying Sunrisers Hyderabad handed the captaincy to David Warner in 2015, and the Australian did wonders for the Hyderabad based franchise as they won their maiden IPL trophy in 2016, defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore in finals. It will not be an easy job for Williamson to continue the legacy of a team which has done pretty well in the past seasons under the leadership of Warner.
Williamson was bought by Sunrisers in 2015 and has scored 411 runs across three editions in 15 matches. He has not been a permanent member of the team, but he do provide a dependable option in the middle order.
Sunrisers begin their IPL 2018 campaign against Rajasthan Royals on April 9.
