The 22-year-old was a part of the Rajasthan Royals camp last season as their net bowler.
In a recent development coming in, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have announced their replacement for the injured Wanindu Hasaranga for the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) season. The Pat Cummins-led side have roped in another Sri Lankan spinner, an unknown Vijaykanth Viyaskanth for the remainder of the tournament.
He was secured by the franchise for his base price of INR 50 lakhs.
The youngster has represented Sri Lanka at the 2023 Asian Games. He also has experience in playing franchise cricket, having impressed with eight wickets in four outings for MI Emirates at the ILT20.
He has also plied his trade in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and Lanka Premier League (LPL), playing for Chattogram Challengers and Jaffna Kings respectively.
In 33 T20s, Viyaskanth boasts an average of 18.78, has an economy of 6.76 and a strike rate of 16.6.
Interestingly, the 22-year-old was a part of the Rajasthan Royals camp last season as their net bowler. This season, he was with the SRH team in a similar role, before being named as Hasaranga’s replacement.
🚨 ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨
Wanindu Hasaranga will be unavailable for the season due to injury. We would like to wish him a speedy recovery.
Sri Lankan spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth has joined the squad as his replacement for the rest of #IPL2024. Welcome, Viyaskanth! ✨ pic.twitter.com/A2Z5458dH8
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) April 9, 2024
Hasaranga, on the other hand, was ruled out after much anticipation. The Sri Lankan, who is rehabbing from an ankle injury was expected to join the SRH camp earlier this month.
However, as a last-minute change, it was reported that Hasaranga had to fly to Dubai for medical attention and was advised precautionary rest for his recovery.
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The news of Hasaranga’s unavailability was confirmed by the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board to BCCI. The SLC board wants to protect its star spinner, especially with the T20 World Cup 2024 lined up next in June.
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