Hyderabad, April 7: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will miss the services of all-rounder Yuvraj Singh for at least 2 weeks at the start of the 9th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
; Full list of squads" />Tournament schedule; Full list of squads
Left-handed Yuvraj sustained an injury to his ankle during the ICC World Twenty20 tournament (versus Australia on March 27) last month, resulting in him missing the semi-final against West Indies on March 31.
He is yet to recover from the blow and will be out of action "for a couple of weeks", SRH coach Tom Moody has confirmed yesterday (April 6).
"Sadly, Yuvraj will be out for a couple of weeks but we don't know how long that is going to be," Moody told IPL's official website on Wednesday.
At this year's players auction, Yuvraj was picked by SRH for Rs 7 crore, making him the team's costliest buy in 2016.
Explaining the logic behind buying Yuvraj, Moody said they wanted to strengthen their middle order batting.
"Going into the auction, we were aware that we needed to strengthen our middle order. Hence we targeted players like Yuvraj and Deepak Hooda to give us that depth in our middle order and they compliment what we already have in our squad.
"What we are aware of this year is building a great depth and strength in our squad and by securing people like Aditya Tare, Tirumalasetti Suman who has had a lot of IPL experience in the past, we feel that we have got that depth of talent to be able to cover for any circumstance and Yuvraj's absence is one of them. With Yuvraj being injured at this stage, you don't know what is around the corner - you need that depth in the squad," the Australia said.
Moody said they are motivated and wanted to make the play-offs. "We are very motivated like we are every year; there is no doubt about that. We are keen to play finals cricket. We are setting our target on being in that top four," he said.
Australia's David Warner will captain SRH in the new season. The tournament runs from April 9 to May 29. SRH open campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Bengaluru on April 12 (8 PM IST).
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