IPL 2021: Jason Roy’s inclusion might not be the smartest choice by Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad suffered a blow right before the start of the IPL 2021 season when they lost all-rounder Mitchell Marsh due to injury. England’s Jason Roy, who is coming off a decent batting performance against India, has been chosen to fill in for the Aussie all-rounder. The selection must have come as a happy surprise for Roy as the English opener had earlier expressed displeasure over the snub at the auction.

Regardless, Roy might still have to warm the bench for the upcoming season as the SRH batting line-up looks pretty settled.

Top-heavy batting order: no place for opener Roy

Rashid Khan, Kane Williamson and skipper David Warner look set to feature in the playing eleven.

SRH have mostly relied on their top-order batsmen to give them a good start with the likes of David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha and Kane Williamson forming their core. Warner and Bairstow were the first-choice openers for the Hyderabad franchise last year, but a slump in form prompted skipper Warner to drop the English wicketkeeper-batsman.

Wriddhiman Saha looks set to open the innings alongside David Warner followed by Kane Williamson at number three.

The likes of Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav could form the middle-order for the side.

All-rounders in wait

Mohammad Nabi

Although SRH has lost a quality all-rounder in the form of Mitchell Marsh, they still have a couple of strong options available. The likes of Mohammad Nabi and Jason Holder present an exciting prospect for the southern franchise to round off the lower middle-order. However, due to the almost guaranteed selection of spinner Rashid Khan, alongside Kane Williamson and David Warner, the team will look to field at least one of Nabi and Holder since they might find it difficult to accommodate both.

Based on all these permutations and combinations, it is highly likely that fitting in Jason Roy would be a tough ask for the SRH management. Coach Trevor Bayliss and skipper Warner, along with the think-tank, would not tinker too much with the balance of the side. Consequently, the World Cup-winning Englishman might have to wait for some more time to take the field for the orange army.