The unfortunate ankle injury to Mitchell Marsh marked the first in-tournament exit from IPL 2020 – on paper, his absence makes the Sunrisers Hyderabad look weaker, but a closer inspection tells that there are enough resources to comfortably fill the gap.

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Mitchell Marsh, the archetypal T20 all-rounder, can polarise opinion – some swear by his ability to turn a game on his day, while others scowl at his rather inconsistent all-round offerings. His topsy-turvy, injury-riddled T20I record of 15 matches across nine years speaks of a talent yet unfulfilled in the shortest format.

His acquisition in the IPL 2020 auction came alongside a breakthrough season for Perth Scorchers in Australia’s Big Bash League, where Marsh blazed 382 runs at a strike-rate of 145.24, a big bump from his overall T20 strike-rate of 124.25.

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Despite his BBL heroics on markedly different surfaces, for SRH, Marsh was unlikely to enjoy an assured spot in the playing XI throughout IPL 2020, especially towards the latter half. In David Warner, Jonny Bairstow and Rashid Khan, they have three certainties to fill the overseas slots, leaving one slot vacant for rotation. As for that solitary spot, they seem to have a range of options to choose from.

Kane Williamson, Orange Cap winner in IPL 2018, is recuperating on the sidelines, and is a favourite to walk into the playing XI as soon as he recovers. SRH fans would love to see Williamson’s calm head even more so now, after watching their middle order commit harakiri against RCB, where the side lost their last eight wickets for 32 runs.

If Warner & co. feel the need for more firepower further down the order, they have, in Mohammad Nabi, one of the finest lower-order hitters in the competition – he’s done it across plenty of T20 leagues, often on surfaces similar to the UAE’s slowish pitches. With Rashid Khan to follow, there’s no dearth of bat-swinging at the death.

A solid top three in Warner, Bairstow and Manish Pandey along with Williamson becomes a strong core, with an Indian all-round option in Vijay Shankar to follow. Despite the loss against RCB, Warner backed his inexperienced, new-look batting order to be good enough throughout the season, saying “we wouldn’t have put them in the middle order if we didn’t feel they weren’t good enough.” Back in India, fans are eager to see the 18-year-old Abdul Samad in action, who has already garnered praise in the domestic circles for his ability to clear the ropes with ease. In other words, there seem to be middle order combinations aplenty.

On the bowling front, Marsh is one of many seamers in the SRH camp, which is filled with a plethora of Indian options, all of whom operate at a largely similar pace. Tracks in UAE have shown signs of initially producing lateral movement, but are most likely to wear off as the tournament progresses, with teams likely to exchange their seaming all-rounders with spinners. While Rashid Khan will spearhead their spin department, one vacant overseas slot opens the possibility of drafting in left-arm spinner Fabian Allen if need be. Or else Nabi, with 267 T20 wickets in his backpack, doubles up as a second spinner.

If SRH intend to disrupt their existing seam attack, which is weirdly symmetrical in Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma and T Natarajan, they have the option of turning towards Billy Stanlake, who can be an explosive option to have with the new ball on tracks with a greener tinge, complimenting the others who rely more on swing.

And lastly, Marsh’s replacement comes in the form of Jason Holder, a more popular name in red-ball cricket, but a highly effective T20 option nonetheless. Holder smartly employs his steep bounce and array of cutters in the format – his economy rate is 7.67 as compared to Marsh’s 8.51, and has a superior batting strike-rate too. As for recent form, in the just-concluded CPL 2020, Holder scored 192 runs at a strike-rate of 140.14, also picking up ten wickets at an economy of 6.63. This in a competition where spinners dominated and run rates often lingered around a run a ball.

A shoulder injury before IPL 2017, and an ankle injury three years later, Marsh’s rotten luck in the tournament continues, but the depth in SRH’s squad might help them quickly rebound from the injury setback.

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Sunrisers Hyderabad Mitchell MarshGlobal T20 LeaguesIndian Premier LeagueSeries Editorial