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Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) all-rounder Washington Sundar will, unfortunately, miss out on the remainder of IPL 2023 as his hamstring injury has ruled him out of the tournament. This marks yet another injury woe that the youngster has had to go through, which has stalled his career in a way over the past couple of years.
Sundar had just about begun to hit the ground running in the IPL 2023 season, as he returned with figures of 3/28 against Delhi Capitals (DC) in his previous game. However, the joy was short-lived as he will now probably head back to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for his rehabilitation.
While an injury to a certain starter might give SRH a selection headache, not all is lost for them. Here are three reasons why Washington Sundar's injury may still not be a body blow to the Sunrisers:
#3 Washington Sundar's inconsistency
Having been bought for a massive INR 8.75 crore in the IPL 2022 mega auction, SRH had huge expectations from Washington Sundar. However, the young all-rounder couldn't make a telling impact in his first season for the Orange Army, picking up just six wickets in nine games at an economy rate of 8.54.
His bowling rhythm was probably affected because of the injury woes that he has had. The returns were worse this season as Sundar went wicketless in the first six games.
The Sunrisers might have realized that Washington Sundar probably wasn't a massive contributor to their success anyway and could look for other options in the squad.
#2 Aiden Markram can bowl decent off-spin
Although SRH may not have a quality off-spin option in Sundar's absence, skipper Aiden Markram is arguably good enough to do the job whenever he finds a favorable match-up. Markram has improved leaps and bounds in his bowling over the past few months and the numbers tell the story.
In 21 T20 games that Markram has played this year, he has bowled in 15 innings, picking up 12 wickets at a fantastic economy rate of 6.94. He used his overs really well for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20 league and one could expect more of the same at SRH as well.
#1 Impact Player rule may have the finishing issue covered
Washington Sundar's returns with the bat too were disappointing this season. He has scored just 60 runs from seven games, that too at a poor strike rate of 100. He received a bit of scrutiny for not finishing off the game against DC and some fans believe he is just not the finisher that SRH wanted.
With the Impact Player rule in place and with Markram capable of bowling off-spin, SRH could play a specialist batter at the No.7 role in search of a perfect finisher. The likes of Abdul Samad and Mayank Dagar are among the all-rounders who may get more regular chances now to prove their mettle in Sundar's absence.
