‘Don’t think anyone can replace David Warner’ – Kane Williamson

It was always going to be interesting to watch the first-leg face-off between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2018 Indian Premier League, as much because of the action as for the two men who are missing – Steve Smith and David Warner.

As it turned out, Hyderabad dealt with the absence of their first-choice captain much better than Rajasthan did, with Kane Williamson leading the Warner-less Hyderabad side to a comfortable nine-wicket win. Though Wriddhiman Saha, their replacement for Warner at the top of the order, didn’t do particularly well, scoring 5, it was one run more than Smith’s replacement in Rajasthan, D’Arcy Short, scored.

Apart from Short, Rajasthan fielded Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Ben Laughlin in their XI.

“The foreigners who played today, I think they are really good. D’Arcy Short did well in the Big Bash (League) and for Australia recently. Jos Buttler and Stokes we know how good they are, and Ben Laughlin is an experienced bowler in T20s,” pointed out Ajinkya Rahane, who took over as the captain after Smith – and Warner – were banned for 12 months for their role in the ball-tampering incident in the Cape Town Test against South Africa last month.

“Definitely Steve Smith is a quality player, but we are not thinking about him right now. It’s about how we can contribute. The players we have are quality players.”

With the ones who played, as well as Smith’s replacement Heinrich Klaasen, Jofra Archer, Zahir Khan and Dushmantha Chameera, Rajasthan must put together the right combination to bounce back from the opening loss and make sure Smith’s absence isn’t felt too much.

Hyderabad certainly didn’t feel Warner’s absence hugely, with Williamson leading well and Shikhar Dhawan slamming a 57-ball 77* from the top to facilitate the win after Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Billy Stanlake, Shakib Al Hasan, Rashid Khan and Siddarth Kaul had done brilliantly to restrict the Royals to 125/9.

“Obviously Davey’s a huge part of this team, a fantastic performer, led this team superbly well. So there are some changes this year but it was nice to come out and do really well as a team,” said Williamson after the win.

It isn’t easy to replace a man who scored 848 and 641 runs in the last two seasons, and Williamson is clear that he isn’t even trying to do that.

“I don’t think anyone can replace Davey, he’s world class. His performances in certainly the last couple of years have probably been some of the best in the competition,” acknowledged Williamson. “So it is a big loss for us, that partnership at the top of the order (with Dhawan). But someone like Wriddhiman Saha to come into that opening role – we know he’s a fantastic player, so we look forward to those two put together some partnerships.

“Davey not here this time – a loss for us but at the same time it’s important that as a unit we stay tight and we work together as a team with the personnel that we have. Today we did well as a team and it’s important we build on that and move forward together."