‘SRH wants him as captain’ – Irfan Pathan feels Hyderabad will go after India Star in IPL Auction 2023

Sunrisers Hyderabad released Kane Williamson ahead of the IPL auction and will now look for his replacement in the IPL auction.

Former India pacer Irfan Pathan has picked an Indian player who can be the ideal replacement of Kane Williamson.

Irfan Pathan picks Mayank Agarwal as Kane Williamson’s replacement in SRH

Sunrisers Hyderabad, after releasing Kane Williamson ahead of the auction, are in dire need of a captaincy option. If we look at the retained players list of SRH there’s hardly any player who can lead the side apart from Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Considering the squad of SRH, Mayank Agarwal can be a great pick for them as he gives them an opening option and can lead the side as well.

“SRH will go after Mayank Agarwal because they need a kind of aggressive opener as well. They don’t have Kane Williamson right now who led them for many years as an experienced player and who used to open the innings as well. Mayank Agarwal is the kind of guy who has led a side, who plays quite freely as well, very fearless, very selfless. They might be thinking of him going forward as a leader as well,” Irfan Pathan said on the Star Sports show Game Plan.

Mayank Agarwal led the Punjab Kings side last year and has the experience of leading the Karnataka side in the domestic circuit. He was released by the Punjab Kings ahead of the auction as they announced Shikhar Dhawan as the new leader of their franchise.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have the biggest purse going into the auction. With INR 42.25 crore they can literally dominate the auction as other franchises don’t have that much amount left in their purse. Mayank Agarwal is certainly the biggest Indian name in the auction list and hence it looks quite logical for the orange army to focus on the mighty opening batter.

ALSO READ: ‘Conditions in Wankhede will suit him’ – Aakash Chopra feels MI can eye this Windies all-rounder in Auction

The upcoming edition of the IPL auction will be really exciting as the auction list has got some big names like Ben Stokes, Sam Curran and Cameron Green. With 187 slots yet to be filled, there must be some tough competition amongst the franchises to grab the players of their choice.