Kane Williamson appointed Sunrisers Hyderabad captain

With David Warner out of the equation, Kane Williamson has been appointed the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Indian Premier League team, for the 2018 edition starting on 7 April.

K Shanmugan, the Chief Executive Officer of the franchise, said in a simple statement on Thursday 29 March, “We are happy to announce Kane Williamson as the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad for IPL 2018.”

Williamson, too, sent in a word after the appointment, which came a day before the start of New Zealand’s second and final Test against England in Christchurch. He said, “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."

Following the ball-tampering incident during the third South Africa v Australia Test in Cape Town, Warner was first stood down from the vice-captaincy of the Test team and then sent home before the fourth and final Test of their series, starting in Johannesburg on Friday with Australia 2-1 down.

He has since been banned from all international and domestic cricket for a year by Cricket Australia for breaching their Code of Conduct for Players, the same punishment handed out to Steve Smith, who has also returned home. Cameron Bancroft, whose act of trying to change the condition of the match ball was caught on camera, has also been banned for nine months.

Smith had earlier stood himself down from the captaincy of Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, and has since been replaced at the helm by Ajinkya Rahane.

Soon after the Cricket Australia decision on Smith, Warner and Bancroft became public, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) issued a statement barring the two senior players from being a part of the IPL.

In a statement, the BCCI said, “The Committee of Administrators (CoA) on Wednesday took cognizance of the developments in the ball tampering incident involving Cricket Australia contracted cricketers – Mr Steve Smith, Mr David Warner and Mr Cameron Bancroft.

“The CoA, in consultation with BCCI Acting President Mr CK Khanna, IPL Chairman Mr Rajeev Shukla and BCCI Acting Hon. Secretary Mr Amitabh Choudhary, has decided to ban Mr Smith and Mr Warner with immediate effect from participation in IPL 2018.

“The BCCI hopes that the cricketers participating in the IPL hold the highest regard for the Spirit of Cricket and Code of Conduct for Players and Match Officials. The concerned IPL franchises will be allowed replacement players.”