Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bowling coach Muttiah Muralitharan has reasoned for them spending a whopping amount of ₹10.75 crores for the Caribbean wicket-keeper batter Nicholas Pooran at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 Auction. Pooran sparked a bidding war between the franchises at the IPL 2022 Auction. Eventually, SRHsecured his services for INR 10.75 crore.
While some fans thought that the batting coach of SRH is Brian Lara and he might have pushed the team owners to buy Pooran, Muttiah Muralitharan disclosed that the Caribbean star was their Plan ‘B’ because they failed to sign their first-choice wicket-keeper, Ishan Kishan.
WATCH – Old Videos Of Suresh Raina Making Rounds On Social Media
During a recent chat with Sportskeeda, Muttiah Muralitharan said, “I would say we’ve got 80 percent of our plans right. We didn’t get the remaining 20 percent right because we couldn’t acquire Ishan Kishan. Had we purchased him, it would’ve been a perfect squad.”
He further added, “As I said, we initially wanted to buy Kishan. But once his bid crossed our budget, we were forced to look for alternatives. We wanted an international wicketkeeper who would be available for all the games, so we thought Pooran was the right choice once Kishan slipped away.”
Muttiah Muralitharan also mentioned that the team owners considered Jonny Bairstow. However, they were unsure about Bairstow’s availability for the whole season, which was why they decided against bidding for him. Fans should note that Bairstow pulled out of the second half of the IPL 2021, a factor that may have played a role in the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s decision to target Nicholas Pooran.
Previously, Nicholas Pooran has been a part of the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL. He will make his debut for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2022.
ALSO READ: Gujarat Titans Made Mumbai Indian Take Arjun Tendulkar For A Higher Price
The Orange Army has assembled a strong squad for the 15th edition of the cash-rich league Apart from Pooran, they also signed the likes of Aiden Markram, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, and others at the mega auction.
