Indian Premier League team Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday picked England batsman Alex Hales to replace Australia’s scandal-plagued former vice-captain David Warner.
Warner, 31, has been banned from international cricket for a year over a ball-tampering scandal during the recent third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.
Hales was signed for 10 million rupees ($153,700) from the available player pool for this year’s IPL, the Indian cricket board said in a statement.
A hard-hitting opener, Hales has scored 1,456 runs in Twenty20 internationals.
The 29-year-old is the only England batsman to score a century in T20 internationals and is seventh in the International Cricket Council’s batting rankings for the format.
Warner, the former Sunrisers captain, has been charged by Cricket Australia with developing the ball-tampering plot and telling teammate Cameron Bancroft to carry it out during the Cape Town Test.
In a tearful apology Saturday, Warner said he had resigned himself to the fact that he may not play for Australia again.
The Sunrisers have named New Zealand’s Kane Williamson as their skipper after Warner stepped down. The Australian opener, along with former captain Steve Smith, was later banned by the IPL from playing this year in the cash-rich T20 tournament.
The Hyderabad side – winners of the 2016 IPL – host the Rajasthan Royals in their opening match on April 9, two days after the tournament starts.
