IPL 2018: 3 Players who could replace David Warner as the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad

The ball-tampering scandal has left the entire cricketing fraternity in a shocked state and both David Warner and Steve Smith are all set to get penalized by Cricket Australia. As some senior Australian journalists have suggested, Smith and Warner will be banned from playing any kind of domestic and International cricket for and in Australia for 12 months whilst Cameron Bancroft will face a 9-month ban.

Whilst Steve Smith has already stepped down as the captain of the Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s talismanic leader David Warner too has stepped down from his post. The CEO of Sunrisers Shanmugam announced – “In light of recent events, David Warner has stepped down as captain of SunRisers Hyderabad. The new captain of the Team will be announced shortly.”

Whilst this sent shock waves across the Hyderabad admirers, it was a decision which didn’t surprise most of the cricket experts. Also, their participation in the tournament is also under threat post the bans sanctioned by Cricket Australia.

ICC rules clearly state that if a country imposes a ban on any player, he cannot participate in any other ICC approved tournament across the globe if their board is not giving a No Objection Certificate (NOC). Since Cricket Australia is highly unlikely to hand them a NOC, it is highly likely that they won’t feature in the 11th edition of the lucrative league.

Henceforth, here are the three alternatives for the Sunrisers Hyderabad who could take up the captaincy duties. Players like Manish Pandey and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are also in contention, but it’d be a massive surprise if either of these players gets the leadership duties.

1. Kane Williamson

The Sunrisers Hyderabad are very lucky to have someone like Kane Williamson in their squad in these tough hours. It’d be a little surprised if anyone else gets the captaincy other than this Kiwi superstar. Williamson has been leading New Zealand across all formats for over 18 months now and has all the experience in the world to lead the Sunrisers.

His position in the XI was uncertain when David Warner was in the lineup, but if Warner is not going to participate, they have no other choice but to land Williamson in the XI. This would be a decent enough replacement as well considering the experience and class he brings in the top order. Hands down, he’s the favorite to get this job as it stands!