Sunrisers Hyderabad have suffered a big blow before the second qualifier against Gujarat Lions as the pace ace Mustafizur Rahman has been ruled out of the key game with a hamstring injury.
Hyderabad skipper David Warner, who opted to field first, broke the news after winning the toss at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on Friday.
“Mustafizur has a slight hamstring niggle. (Trent) Boult comes in,” Warner said.
The injury meant Hyderabad have to play without the 20-year-old seamer for the first time in the lucrative T20 tournament.
Mustafizur has played a crucial role in Hyderabad’s progress in the tournament. He has claimed 16 wickets from 15 matches at an average of 24.
His economy rate stands 6.73 runs per over.
New Zealand speedstar Boult, who has been in India since the start of the World T20 in March, is playing his first game in two and a half months.
The Kiwis progressed to the semi-finals of the showcase event but Boult was kept on the bench for all the matches.
Hyderabad, too, had kept the left-arm pacer in reserves until Friday.
India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar considered Mustafizur’s absence as a huge setback for Hyderabad because he had been their prime weapon at the death.
Source: Bd news24