IPL 2019: Kane Williamson's absence raises eyebrows in IPL captains' photograph

The D-Day is here. The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to kick off on Saturday with the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Chennai. The second game will see last year’s finalists Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) taking on the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and it also promises to be a cracker of a clash. Meanwhile, curiosity was stoked about the Sunrisers’ captaincy ahead of the beginning of the tournament.

All eight captains of the tournament assembled in Chennai ahead of the curtain raiser to pose with the trophy for which they will fight over for almost two months for an official photograph. The captains were Dinesh Karthik (KKR), MS Dhoni (CSK), Virat Kohli (RCB), Shreyas Iyer (Delhi Capitals), Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians), Ravichandran Ashwin (Kings XI Punjab) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH).

While the first seven were predicted, there was an element of surprise over Bhuvneshwar’s presence since it is Kane Williamson who is supposed to lead the side in the tournament.

Williamson still nursing a shoulder injury

However, the New Zealander, who successfully led the SRH last season after stepping in for the banned David Warner, joined the team but is nursing a shoulder injury that he picked up during the recent Test series against Bangladesh at home.

The talented batsman, who also had a terrific run with the willow last season, suffered a grade-one tear to his left pectoral minor muscle and is likely to miss the first few games for the SRH. The team decided to stick to Williamson as the captain despite the return of Warner this season and Bhuvneshwar, who is the vice-captain, will lead in the absence of the Kiwi.

The SRH are known for their solid bowling attack and they remained a side to beat in the last season throughout but failed to overcome the final hurdle against Dhoni’s CSK. The team’s bowling department has a line-up of big names, including their stand-in skipper Bhuvneshwar.

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