IPL 2020: SRH announce replacement for Bhuvneshwar Kumar

The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have announced that 22-year-old fast bowler Prithvi Raj Yarra will be replacing the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the rest of IPL 2020.

Kumar was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament after suffering a hip injury against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Friday.

“Bhuvneshwar Kumar is ruled out of the #Dream11IPL 2020 due to injury. We wish him a speedy recovery! Prithvi Raj Yarra will replace Bhuvi for the remainder of the season,” SRH tweeted from their official handle.

While Prithvi Raj is not a like-for-like replacement for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the left-arm pacer can be a good addition to the already congested SRH pool of Indian pacers comprising of Sandeep Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Basil Thampi, Khaleel Ahmed and T Natarajan.

Since making his first-class debut for Andhra Pradesh in October 2017, Prithvi Raj has taken 58 wickets from 11 first-class, 9 List A and 3 T20 matches so far. The only cause of concern is his lack of experience in the shortest format, having picked up a meagre four wickets at an economy of 9.62.

Update 🚨Bhuvneshwar Kumar is ruled out of #Dream11IPL 2020 due to injury. We wish him a speedy recovery!Prithvi Raj Yarra will replace Bhuvi for the remainder of the season.#OrangeArmy #KeepRising

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) October 6, 2020

SRH will miss the services of Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Prithvi Raj Yarra with MS Dhoni (Image Credits: Twitter)

A good performance in the 2018-19 Duleep Trophy saw the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) purchase Prithvi Raj for his base price of INR 20 lakh in the player auction for IPL 2019. Interestingly, his maiden and only IPL wicket is that of SRH captain David Warner.

It is highly unlikely that Prithvi Raj will get to play in the IPL this year. However, he would get the opportunity to bowl his heart out in the nets, go back with a new set of learnings and come back stronger the following year.

Who is leading the IPL 2020 purple cap race? Click here to see.

Nonetheless, the David Warner-led side will miss the services of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who apart from being a vital cog in their line-up was also someone the younger pacers looked to learn from and improve.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who won the Purple Cap in IPL 2016 and 2017, picked up four wickets in as many matches at an economy of 6.98 in IPL 2020.