IPL 2023 Auction: Irfan Pathan Backs SRH To Rope In Ex-PBKS Skipper As Kane Williamson’s Replacement

New Delhi: India ex-cricketer Irfan Pathan backs Mayank Agarwal and also suggested that Sunrisers Hyderabad will buy the opener as a replacement for Kane Williamson for Indian Premier League 2023. SRH parted ways with Williamson after New Zealand’s batter was unable to perform in the Indian Premier League 2022.

Kane Williamson was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2022 for a whopping sum of INR 14 crore. With SRH set to enter the mini-auction in search of a new captain, ex-Indian all-rounder Irfan has claimed that the former IPL champions will hope to acquire the services of opener Mayank Agarwal.

“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,” Pathan shared his views on the Star Sports show Game Plan.

Indian Premier League 2022 mini auction will start from December 23, 2022, 2.30 PM IST at Kochi. Among a total of 405 players, 273 of them are Indians whereas the remaining 132 are overseas players — with four of them from associate nations. The total number of capped players is 119, 282 are the number of uncapped players and 4 from the associate nations. A maximum of 87 slots are up for grabs. 30 of them will be filled by overseas players.