Sunrisers retain David Warner for IPL 2019, Wriddhiman Saha released

David Warner will don the orange for Sunrisers Hyderabad again in 2019, two years after he last featured for the franchise. Warner, the designated captain, missed the 2018 season following the Newlands ball-tampering scandal.

Sunrisers, however, released India wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, the England duo of Alex Hales and Chris Jordan, and West Indies T20I captain Carlos Brathwaite.

Saha was Sunrisers' first-choice wicketkeeper through IPL 2018, but suffered a finger injury during the second Qualifier against Kolkata Knight Riders in May. Thereafter, Saha was diagnosed with a shoulder injury and missed India's Tests against Afghanistan and England and will not be available for the upcoming Australia series as well. Shreevats Goswami, who kept wicket following Saha's injury, has been retained.

In all, Sunrisers retained six foreigners. Joining Warner were Australia fast bowler Billy Stanlake, Kane Williamson and the all-round trio of Shakib Al Hasan, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi. Sunrisers, however, did not specify a team captain. With Warner set to return, the franchise is spoilt for captaincy choices.

The other players released were Sachin Baby, Tanmay Agarwal, Bipul Sharma and Mehdi Hassan. None of them had played for Sunrisers in IPL 2018.

Earlier this month, Shikhar Dhawan was traded to Delhi Daredevils, after he felt "unsettled" at the franchise. Sunrisers had received the services of allrounders Vijay Shankar and Abhishek Sharma, and the left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem from Daredevils in return.