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SunRisers Hyderabad announced the replacement of injured Wanindu Hasaranga in the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League and welcomed Sri Lanka’s leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth into the squad. The 22-year-old has represented his nation in only one T20 International till now when he was part of Sri Lanka’s squad in the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. Apart from this, Vijayakanth scalped a total of eight wickets in four outings for the MI Emirates at the ILT20.
While being a part of the Tamil Union, Viyaskanth picked 16 wickets in the six first-class matches. The youngster has represented the Chattogram Challengers in the Bangladesh Premier League as well as the Jaffna Kings in the Lanka Premier League. In the 2023 edition of the tournament, he picked 13 wickets with an economy of 6.68 and finished behind only Carlos Brathwaite and Nuwan Thushara to level with Kasun Rajitha.
Vijayakanth participated in 33 T20s, where he recorded 42 wickets at an economy of 6.76, whereas in four ILT20 matches he has played, the spinner recorded eight wickets. In the 2023 edition of the tournament, he was brought in as a net bowler for Rajasthan Royals by head coach Kumar Sangakkara. He joined the Hyderabad-based franchise for a sum of INR 50 Lakh, his base price.
In their official statement, the Indian Premier League announced, “SunRisers Hyderabad have signed Vijaykanth Viyaskanth as a replacement for the injured Wanindu Hasaranga for the remainder of the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.”
