Williamson ‘stand-in’ captain for Sunrisers

IPL schedule to be tweaked a bit for Karnataka elections

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was yesterday named captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad after Australian David Warner was banned from playing in IPL 2018 in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal.

“We are happy to announce Kane Williamson as the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad for IPL 2018,” the franchise’s CEO K. Shanmugam announced on Twitter.

In accepting the role, Williamson made it a point to mention that he was “standing in as captain for this season.”

“I’ve accepted the role to stand in as captain for this season. It’s an exciting opportunity with a talented group of players. I look forward to the challenges ahead,” Williamson said.

The franchise’s decision to pick Williamson is, however, likely to raise a few eyebrows.

In his previous three seasons with the Sunrisers, Williamson played only 15 matches with a modest record — 411 runs at a strike rate of 129.24 with three half centuries.

The dates of the home matches between Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) have been changed in view of the Karnataka Assembly election date.

“Match No. 19 to be played in New Delhi on April 21 between the two sides will now be a home game of southern franchise. Match No. 45 to be played in Bengaluru on May 12 between the two will now be a home game of the national capital franchise,” a press release said.

The Karnataka Assembly election will be single-phase polling to be held on May 12. The results will be announced on May 15.