SRH have signed young Sri Lankan leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth as a replacement for the experienced Wanindu Hasaranga, who has been ruled out for the remainder of IPL 2024. Hasaranga, who was poised to make his debut for SRH in the IPL after being acquired by the 2016 champions for Rs 1.5 crore at the player auction last December, had his aspirations dashed due to chronic pain in his left foot, ruling him out of any involvement with his new franchise this season.
Previously, Hasaranga had represented RCB in two seasons, having been acquired for a staggering Rs 10.75 crore at the 2022 player auction. Despite a stellar debut season with RCB where he claimed 26 wickets, he played a limited role last year before being released. Hasaranaga, who last played in Sri Lanka's limited-overs series in Bangladesh in March, was treated by SLC medical personnel who felt the pain in his left heel was caused by wear and tear in the musculoskeletal system. He was supposed to fly overseas for specialist consultation before receiving permission from SLC to play in the IPL. Sunrisers head coach Daniel Vettori announced on Thursday that Hasaranga had consulted a specialist in Dubai, after which the word of his withdrawal spread.
Hasaranga was suspended from Sri Lanka's ongoing Test series against Bangladesh earlier this month after receiving eight demerit points for violating article 2.8 of the players' code of conduct during the third one-day international against Bangladesh. Had Hasaranga, who had recently come out of Test retirement before the ban, been unavailable for the red-ball games, he would have missed the T20 World Cup's first matches.
Vijayakanth, also a leg-spinner from Sri Lanka, has only featured in one T20 International for his country thus far. He joins SRH at his base price of Rs 50 lakh. Viyaskanth, 22, represented Sri Lanka in one T20I at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou and impressed for MI Emirates in the ILT20, taking eight wickets in four games. He has also played for Chattogram Challengers in the BPL and Jaffna Kings in the LPL. Viyaskanth's average in 33 T20s is 18.78, with an economy of 6.76 and a strike rate of 16.6.
