On Sunday, May 18, SRH coach Daniel Vettori announced that Travis Head had recently been ill with Covid and was scheduled to land in India on Monday morning, dry words that throw doubt on whether he will play in the SRH game against LSG and possibly concerning Abhishek Sharma having to find a new partner to open with.
A very simple solution for SRH would be for Ishan Kishan to move back to his usual opening spot. He has opened the batting for Mumbai Indians and internationally with great success, but this season he has batted at number 3 due to the presence of Head and Abhishek. Ishan has opened in 55 IPL matches, scored 1,739 runs at an average of 34 and a strike rate of 142. This would mean him opening alongside Abhishek while Kamindu Mendis has his chance at number 3, who is a good batter himself. This would leave the middle order of SRH unchanged while giving them a strong top three.
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Another option would be to use Atharva Taide as an opener. Taide has opened the batting for Punjab Kings in the IPL and scored two fifties in nine appearances. Along this route, SRH will have to find a way to squeeze Kamindu into the middle order unless they intend to go with just one overseas player, Heinrich Klaasen. That could be a hard call to make, though, for the value Kamindu provides with both bat and ball.
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The talented Kamindu should be selected over Atharva now, with Travis Head ruled out. Also, SRH need somebody to hold together the lineup of power hitters, and shifting Ishan back to his favorite spot may just help him regain some form after a dismal season.
