Mitchell Marsh has become the first player to be ruled out of IPL 2020 because of injury. Marsh hurt his right ankle during Sunrisers Hyderabad’s first match of the tournament, on September 21 against Royal Challengers Bangalore. West Indies allrounder Jason Holder has been named Marsh’s replacement.
This is the second time in the last five years that Marsh has had to abort the tournament because of injury – in 2017, a shoulder problem cost him the entire IPL season for Rising Pune Supergiants.
Marsh was picked by the Sunrisers for his base price of INR 2 crore ($281,000 approx.) last December, and on fresh pitches, in conditions favouring fast bowlers in the first phase of this IPL in the UAE, Marsh was expected to be a first-choice player for the Sunrisers with his all-round skills.
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This will be Holder’s second stint with Sunrisers (after 2014-15) and fourth overall in the IPL. Holder has previously featured for Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Despite being one of the top allrounders in Test cricket, Holder has failed to impose himself in limited-overs cricket over the years, and while he remains the Test captain for West Indies, he lost the white-ball captaincy to Kieron Pollard last year.
In the December 2020 IPL auction, Holder had put his base price at INR 75 lakh ($100,000 approx.), but went unsold more than once. More recently Holder led Barbados Tridents in the CPL 2020, where they finished fifth in the six-team table. Holder scored 192 runs at a strike rate of 140.14, and also picked up ten wickets at an economy rate of 6.63, while also bowling the most maidens in the competition (four).
According to the Covid-19 protocols put in place by the IPL, Holder would need to undergo the mandatory six-day quarantine and clear the testing process before he can join the Sunrisers squad.