Legendary West Indies cricketer Brian Lara has suggested Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to look at building a team around the all-rounder Jason Holder for the next Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) after their disastrous IPL 2021 season ended on Friday (October 8) in the UAE.
He also said Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) should look at appointing a local skipper for the next IPL 2022, as it will “allow them to manage overseas slots better” in the tournament.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) had another terrible IPL season, finishing the ongoing IPL 2021 last with only 3 wins from 14 games, but it was Holder who managed to steal the limelight with his performance.
Holder, a six feet seven inch fast bowler, has finished the IPL 14 season with 16 wickets and 85 runs from 8 games and Lara termed him a “shining light” in SRH’s disastrous season.
Lara told cricket.com: “Jason Holder is the shining light in a disastrous season. I'm not sure if he is an out-and-out T20 player, but I feel they can build a team around him.”
He added, “It's always great to have a local player to lead the side because you only have four selections in the playing XI and you are carrying the captain in that. There is a big auction coming up and SRH has a lot of shaking up to do. Let's see how they will get the right group to move forward.”
On positives for SRH this season, he said: “It's tough to pinpoint any positives. Rashid Khan was not at his best. They lost Jonny Bairstow and they got Jason Roy, there is not much they gained from that.”
However, Lara lauded Mumbai Indians, who scored their highest ever total 235 against SRH in the IPL. He added, “Mumbai scored their highest ever total in the IPL, so where was 75 percent of that effort in previous matches which would've kept them in the tournament.”
He signed off by saying, “They went from abysmal to outstanding. It was about personality, the way Ishan Kishan (84) and Suryakumar Yadav (82) batted so well. The IPL is just six months away so I think they will carry this into the next tournament just like CSK did from IPL 2020. Mumbai Indians had an equation that was almost impossible but they gave it a go. But they will be happy that the Indian players got good runs ahead of World Cup.”
(With IANS Inputs)
