'They'd be hoping Warner injures himself': Butcher hopes big-hitting batsman plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2021

IPL 2021: Butcher is worried that it could be another season of misses for the big-hitting batsman if he doesn't get to play this year.

Sunrisers Hyderabad will once again enter the IPL as underdogs. Winners of IPL in 2016, SRH have made it to the playoffs of every tournament since winning their first title. SRH boast one of the most balanced squads, let alone Playing XI, with the likes of David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar to name a few. Such power-packed is their batting, that even a batsman as great as Williamson sits out most of their matches, which at times, could result in a problem of plenty for the team.

Mark Butcher (L) and David Warner. (Getty/IPL)

Warner and Bairstow form one of the most lethal opening pairs in the IPL. In fact, in 2019, the duo set the record for the highest opening partnership putting up 185 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore and unless something drastic happens, it is likely that SRH will stick to their dependable pair at the top.

However, former England batsman Mark Butcher is worried about the prospect of a current England batsman missing out if SRH opt for Warner and Bairstow to open. Jason Roy, who recently replaced all-rounder Mitchell Marsh in the SRH squad ahead of IPL 2021, has an incredible T20 record himself and the team has the chance of reuniting England's deadly opening pair of Roy and Bairstow. But the chances of it happening are low, and Butcher is worried that it could be another season of misses for the big-hitting English batsman.

“Warner will play. Kane Williamson sits out often for Sunrisers Hyderabad and if he’s not getting a gig, and he’s not going to open the batting anyway. He’ll bat 3 or 4 then it’s hard to see where he fits in there, Jason,” Butcher said on Wisden’s Weekly Cricket Podcast.

“From an England point of view, they’d be hoping that David Warner injures himself and then you have the Roy and Bairstow show at the top of the order. Fingers crossed that Jason plays otherwise it would be another wasted summer for him.”

Roy has played just eight IPL matches in his career, which highlights that he has been heavily under-utilized for someone who has a strike-rate of over 140 in T20 cricket. He last played in 2018 for the Delhi Capitals (then Daredevils), scoring 120 runs from five matches. Before his stint with DC, Roy had represented the Gujarat Lions in 2017 where he batted in the middle order and could only add 59 runs from three games.

"He's done that so often in the IPL. When he was at Gujarat Lions… wasn’t going to play. When he did play, they batted him at 6. So yeah, he’s had it before. And Jason is not good at not playing," Butcher added.

"He’s had various injury problems over the last 2-3 years and it’s kept him out of playing regular cricket. He’s also had a situation where he hardly featured in an IPL for two IPLs and was so slow getting started when he got back in the UK. That hurts him, not playing."