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Sunrisers Hyderabad’s plans have taken another knock, with Australian all-rounder Jack Edwards ruled out of the coming IPL after a foot injury flared up late last week. The 25-year-old, bought for INR 3 crore (about £265,000) at December’s auction, was set for his first taste of the tournament but now has no option other than rehab back in Sydney.
“Timing’s never ideal, though this one stings,” an SRH medical note said on Monday, confirming a “stress-related issue in the left foot” and a recovery window “well beyond the start of April”.
Edwards earned his deal on the back of a busy Big Bash summer: 19 wickets, handy late-order runs (133 in 13 hits) and a high-energy presence in the field for Sydney Sixers. Four days after the Sixers lost the final to Perth he made a short-lived international debut against Pakistan – figures of 0 for 25 from two overs and a scratchy 5 off six balls in Perth. Since then, two Sheffield Shield matches for New South Wales, the second finishing only on Thursday, appear to have aggravated the problem.
Losing Edwards compounds SRH’s fast-bowling headache. Pat Cummins, the franchise captain, is already pencilled out of the opening fortnight with a lumbar stress injury. “We’re not tearing up the blueprint, but it’s definitely Plan B territory,” a senior SRH analyst admitted. Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan will stand in as skipper until Cummins returns.
Australia’s pace stocks generally look thin ahead of this IPL. Josh Hazlewood (side), Mitchell Starc (knee) and Nathan Ellis (hamstring) are also sidelined, either partially or entirely, meaning five of the country’s frontline quicks are now in the casualty column.
Sunrisers begin the season on 28 March in Bengaluru against the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru. A replacement for Edwards is expected to be named in the coming days, most likely from the list of unsold overseas bowlers.
For now, the wait goes on – for Edwards’ IPL debut and, perhaps more pressingly, for Hyderabad to put a fit attack on the park.
