Sunrisers Hyderabad ropes in Alex Hales as Warner's replacement in IPL 2018

Dashing England batsman Alex Hales will replace banned Australian opener David Warner in the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad for the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League.

Hales was bought for his base price of Rs 10 million as a replacement for 31-year-old Warner, who was barred from taking part in IPL-2018 by the BCCI after Cricket Australia (CA) handed him a one-year ban for his role in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.

"The Sunrisers Hyderabad have picked Alex Hales as the replacement for David Warner," an IPL statement said.

"The opening batsman was bought for his base price of INR 1 crore (10 million) from the Registered and Available Player Pool (RAPP) list."

Hales is the first and only England player till date to score a T20I century. He is also the top-ranked English player and the only one to feature in the top-10 list of the ICC T20I rankings.

The 29-year-old from Middlesex plays, who was part of the Mumbai Indians team in 2015, has played in the Big Bash League (BBL), Pakistan Super League and Bangladesh Premier League.

Hales will have big boots to fill as Warner was one of Sunrisers' match-winners.

New Zealand captain and middle-order batsman Kane Williamson as their skipper for this season after the Australian stepped down from his position as the captain of the franchise.

Warner has been banned by Cricket Australia from any leadership role for Australia due to his involvement in the ball tampering controversy that took place during the third Test between South Africa and Australia in Cape Town.