IPL 2020: SRH pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar out of IPL, may miss Australia tour as well

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) suffer a major setback as their primary pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been ruled out of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 with an injury.

Bhuvneshwar sustained an injury during SRH's IPL 2020 match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Oct. 2 in Dubai. As a result, he missed SRH's next match that was against defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI), where captain David Warner fielded an inexperienced bowling attack comprising of Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan, and Siddarth Kaul.

"Bhuvi will not be able to take further part in this year's tournament as he has been ruled out with a hip injury. A big blow for sure as he is someone who leads the bowling unit and is also an integral part of the leadership group on the ground," a source associated with SRH told ANI.

On the other hand, PTI has reported that Bhuvneshwar is out of IPL 2020 with a thigh muscle injury.

"Bhuvneshwar Kumar is out of IPL with a thigh muscle injury. It is probably a grade 2 or 3 injury, which could mean that he would be out for at least 6 to 8 weeks. It might effectively rule him out of India's tour of Australia," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

The fast bowler suffered the injury while bowling the 19th over against CSK at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. While he tried to again bowl, he had to stop his stride twice before SRH's physio decided to call him off the field. After SRH sealed the game against CSK, Warner was enquired about Bhuvneshwar's situation, but the Aussie did not have much idea at that time.

The 30-year-old pacer missed SRH's match against MI, which the Hyderabad side lost by 34 runs. At the toss in the game between SRH and MI, Warner had said Bhuvneshwar could miss a couple of matches due to his hip injury. However, the Indian bowler has been forced to withdraw, becoming the second SRH player to pull out in the middle of IPL 2020 after Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh.

With two wins in five matches, Warner's SRH are currently placed seventh in the IPL 2020 points table, just above Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), who have bagged just one win so far.

Moreover, Indian skipper Virat Kohli will hope Bhuvneshwar's injury is not serious as the bowler is included in India's plans for the series against Australia Down Under that follows soon after the IPL. India and Australia will lock horns in the four-Test series and that will be followed by a limited-overs series.