England batsman Alex Hales has been named as David Warner’s replacement in the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) squad for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018. This is not the first time Hales will be a part of an IPL team. Previously, he was part of Mumbai Indians side in 2015 edition but did not get to play a single match. Overal, the opening batsman has played 174 T20s and has scored 4,704 runs at 28.85 at a strike rate in excess of 143. He also has a couple of centuries to his name. Other than the Natwest T20 Blast, Hales has also played for Duronto Rajshahi in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League (BBL).
Hales is expected to open the batting with India’s Shikhar Dhawan, after David Warner was banned by the BCCI following his part in the ball tampering scandal, which has rocked the cricketing world. Warner has also received a one-year ban from Cricket Australia (CA) for his involvement. As a result, SRH had named New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson as their captain for IPL 2018.
Hales was recently included in the England squad for the tour of New Zealand after he was dropped midway for his involvement in a brawl alongside Ben Stokes during the ODI series against West Indies at home. SRH won their maiden IPL title under Warner in 2016 and will be eyeing another one this time around. Hales went unsold in the IPL 2018 auction. He had a base price of Rs 1 crore.
SRH will play their first match of the season against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on April 9 at Hyderabad.
