Jason Holder: The X-Factor for Sunrisers Hyderabad

Jason Holder is almost a late discovery for the IPL. The Barbadian all-rounder missed several seasons as he was captain of the West Indies cricket team. The start of the home season in the Caribbean clashed with the IPL.

Otherwise, it seems odd that Jason Holder, an out-and-out all-rounder, has missed out on this T20 festival. The lanky pacer, an exceptional performer for West Indies in recent times, was unfortunate to have been removed from the captaincy of the Test team.

Jason Holder led West Indies well before being replaced earlier this year

Meanwhile, his career as a T20 player has taken off. In these circumstances, Jason Holder can prove to play an extremely important role for his team Sunrisers Hyderabad.

He can fit well into a middle-to-lower order position as a batsman and play a supporting role to the likes of T Natarajan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. However, he still has to fight out for a spot in the playing XI, given that only 4 overseas players are allowed in each team.

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The Jason Holder Factor for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL

Fire in Babylon: The man from Barbados roars in BBL

Jason Holder got his opportunity in the IPL 2020 courtesy of an injury to Mitchell Marsh. The call-up was keeping in mind his CPL 2020 performance, wherein he had a strike rate of 140.2 with the bat and economy rate of 6.6.

His stand-out performance with the bat was a captain's knock of 69 off 42 against Jamaica Tallawahs.

He continued to impress for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. In the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, he became an important facet in the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling attack and was able to dish out some crucial performances for the team.

Jason Holder picked 14 wickets in his 7 appearances and made some fine contributions with the bat as well.

Jason Holder's opening spell in #IPL2020 today:2 W 0 1wd 0 0 1 4 1 W 0 0 0💥 💥 💥 pic.twitter.com/5tM0zt8CuB

— ICC (@ICC) November 6, 2020

This included a splendid 3 for 25 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the eliminator. He picked up the wickets of Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal and Shivam Dube to take the steam out of the RCB batting line-up.

He later returned to save SRH after they were in trouble at 67/4. He helped steady the ship with Kane Williamson and saw SRH home.

Jason Holder gives it a whack with the bat Source:BCCI

Taking on the role of a middle order batsman, Holder was able to shine with the bat. His 26 off 10 against RCB helped SRH win by a margin of 5 wickets with 35 balls to spare. He took 2 off 27 in the same game.

Jason Holder's #BBL10 stint was short, but oh-so sweet 🤩Welcome back anytime, @Jaseholder98 🙏 pic.twitter.com/kEtQ87m02L

— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 29, 2020

Sydney Sixers needed 16 off the final over with two wickets in hand. Jason Holder went after Will Sutherland and smashed 16 runs between the second and fifth ball of the final over to win the game.

Jason Holder, whose sharp leadership and exceptional cricketing skills helped improve the West Indies cricket team, has now become an equally important T20 cricketer.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: A team of many stars

This gives SRH the problem of plenty. They are stacked up with big-hitters at the top in Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow and the big gun, David Warner. They have Kane Williamson in the middle order and the Afghan trio of Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman as bowling options.

This might make things slightly more difficult for Jason Holder, but he has one specific quality going in his favor. He is the sole fast-bowling all-rounder among overseas players.

Jason Holder captained West Indies for nearly five years. He can be an important contributor to team strategies and help out the skipper with decision making.