IPL 2024: Twenty-two year old Sri Lankan spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth has been chosen to replace Sunrisers Hyderabad legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga. Hasaranga was ruled out of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 due to chronic heel pain in his left foot, ESPNcricinfo reported on Tuesday.
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“Wanindu Hasaranga will be unavailable for the season due to injury. We would like to wish him a speedy recovery. Sri Lankan spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth has joined the squad as his replacement for the rest of #IPL2024. Welcome, Viyaskanth!”, SunRisers Hyderabad tweeted.
Who is Vijaykanth Viyaskanth?
This is the first time that Viyaskanth had got the chance to play an IPL match. The 22-year-old, who has played one T20I for Sri Lanka, is a like-for-like replacement for leg-spinner Hasaranga. He has joined Sunrisers for a base price of ₹50 lakh.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Vijaykanth Viyaskanth first rose to prominence in December 2020, when he became the youngest player at 18 years and 364 days to feature in the Lanka Premier League for Jaffna Stallions.
“In that tournament, he also became the first born-and-bred player from Jaffna, in Sri Lanka’s northern tip and once the epicentre of a three-decade-long civil war, to appear in an internationally televised game,” the report said.
Viyaskanth had made his Sri Lanka debut at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. He had then impressed with eight wickets in four outings at an economy of 5.43 for title winners MI Emirates in the ILT20 tournament. He also represented Chattogram Challengers in the Bangladesh Premier League.
Who is Wanindu Hasaranga?
In December’s IPL 2024 auction, Sri Lanka’s star all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga was bought for his base price of ₹1.5 crore by Hyderabad. A sought-after figure in the T20 league circuit, Hasaranga played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last two seasons, doing well as a spinner.
Hasaranaga last played in Sri Lanka’s limited-overs series in Bangladesh in March.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Hasaranga had not joined the Hyderabad squad. The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had informed the BCCI of his unavailability for the season.
He was treated by SLC medical personnel who felt the pain in his left heel was caused by wear and tear on the musculoskeletal system. He was supposed to fly overseas for specialist consultation before receiving permission from SLC to play in the IPL.
Sunrisers head coach Daniel Vettori announced on Thursday that Hasaranga had consulted a specialist in Dubai, after which the word of his withdrawal spread.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Published: 09 Apr 2024, 08:26 PM IST