Sunrisers Hyderabad made some big signings at the auction. They purchase West Indies wicket-keeper batter Nicolas Pooran for Rs. 10.75 crores. The wicket-keeper has a big reputation in T20 cricket.
Pooran, who is now the most expensive West Indian buy ever at an IPL auction, could prove to be a game-changer in the middle order. He can attack both spin and pace and fortunately for Hyderabad. However, the left-hander has struggled for consistency over the years but there’s no denying the firepower he brings to the table. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s spin-bowling coach Muttiah Muralitharan has explained why the team bid a whopping INR 10.75 crore to sign Caribbean wicket-keeper batter Nicholas Pooran.
“I would say we’ve got 80 percent of our plans right. We didn’t get the remaining 20 percent right because we couldn’t acquire Ishan Kishan. Had we purchased him, it would’ve been a perfect squad.” Muralitharan said.
“As I said, we initially wanted to buy Kishan. But once his bid crossed our budget, we were forced to look for alternatives. We wanted an international wicketkeeper who would be available for all the games, so we thought Pooran was the right choice once Kishan slipped away,” he further added. Muralitharan has named young Indian all-rounder Abhishek Sharma as Williamson’s opening partnership.
“Abhishek was pretty much part of our initial plans. He was in and out of the side last season, but we want him to assume greater responsibility this time. We want him to open the batting alongside Kane. That will help us get a good left-hand, right-hand combination at the top,” said Muralitharan. Sunrisers Hyderabad also purchased South African batter Aiden Markram (2.6 cr), Washington Sundar (8.75 cr), Rahul Tripathi (8.5 cr), Romario Shephard (7.75 cr), and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4.2 cr).