Injury blow for SRH as Smaran ruled out, Harsh Dubey named replacement

22 year old Dubey is a left-arm spinning all-rounder from Vidarbha. He made headlines during the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season by taking a record 69 wickets--breaking Ashutosh Aman's previous mark of 68 wickets in a single season. His impressive performance helped Vidarbha lift the Ranji title this year.

Dubey joins SRH at his base price of INR 30 lakh, but while he has shone in red-ball cricket, his performances in limited-overs formats have been modest so far. He has taken 21 wickets in 20 List A matches at an average of 34.66 and nine wickets in 16 T20 innings with an economy of 6.78. Still, his Ranji success has boosted his reputation ahead of this IPL stint.

SRH's season has been far from ideal. After reaching the IPL 2024 final, they have managed just three wins in ten matches this year and sit ninth on the table. Even if they win their remaining four matches, they can only reach 14 points, meaning their playoff hopes rely on other teams' slipping. To make things worse, their net run rate of -1.192 is the worst among all teams, including already-eliminated Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR).

Ahead of their match against Delhi Capitals (DC), Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Daniel Vettori clarified that there are no fitness concerns about an out-of-form pacer Mohammed Shami and that the veteran is working hard in the nets to turn things around for himself.

Shami came to the IPL after a solid ICC Champions Trophy winning campaign for India, taking nine wickets in five matches at an average of 25.88 with a five-wicket haul to his name. Since his return after more than an year from an injury, Shami has managed 14 wickets in nine international games at an average of 27.64.

However, Shami's IPL numbers have been dissapointing, having taken just six scalps in nine matches at an average of 56.16, leaking runs at an economy rate of 11.23. (ANI)