Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) received a major blow in their fourth game of the tournament. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the leader of their bowling attack, was seen struggling with a hip injury.

Bhuvneshwar was bowling the 19th over of Chennai Super Kings’ innings when he had to stop in his run-up itself. Now, he has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament and this comes as a big setback for SRH, who are struggling in the tournament with three defeats in five games.

When Bhuvi got injured on the field, he tried his best to get up and bowl the remaining five deliveries of his over but he couldn’t, and eventually left the field. Hence, everyone felt that the injury is not severe and he might come back after a few matches. However, after missing the next game against Mumbai Indians, Bhuvneshwar has been ruled out of the on-going tournament.

SRH is already struggling with their playing combination. And now, after Bhuvneshwar’s injury, Rashid Khan is the only senior bowler in their ranks. Siddharth Kaul replaced Bhuvneshwar in the last game against MI and received a serious hammering in his first outing. Kaul leaked 64 runs in his four overs and thus, the team management would be looking to find a suitable replacement for the Indian pacer.

Here are the three possible replacements for Bhuvneshwar Kumar at SRH:

1. Aniket Choudhary

Aniket Choudhary is a well-known name in Indian domestic circuit. He is a left-arm fast-medium bowler and has played for RCB in the past. Choudhary hails from Rajasthan and has picked up five wickets in the five opportunities he has got in the cash-rich league.

He is majorly a skiddy bowler with excellent cutters in his artillery, which makes him a skilled death bowler. As SRH must be looking for an experienced face, Choudhary has played domestic cricket for more than eight years and is an experienced campaigner, which can work in his favour.

Also, as he has different variations available, his prowess as a death bowler can make him a reliable bowler. SRH have struggled in the death overs and without Bhuvi, their bowling line-up looks vulnerable than before. With Khaleel Ahmed struggling at the death for SRH, the inclusion of Choudhary can provide the much-needed support to T Natarajan.

2. Rahul Shukla

With Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan and Sandeep Sharma in their bowling attack, SRH is lacking a pace bowler who can bowl at a serious pace. Such a bowler can make use of the dry pitches of UAE and can generate pace out of them. Rahul Shukla is one of the options that can be considered by SRH.

Shukla plays for Jharkhand in the domestic circuit and he is popular for his speed. He has already been signed by as many as three franchises in the past. He was signed by Mumbai in 2012, followed by Rajasthan and Delhi.

With an experience of almost 10 years in domestic cricket, Shukla can come in as a replacement for Bhuvi and provide the much-needed stability to SRH’s attack. He has picked up five wickets in his seven outings in IPL and his erratic pace is a fascinating aspect about him.

3. Barinder Sran

Barinder Sran has already played for SRH and has also represented Team India. He is a hit-the-deck bowler and can utilize the UAE pitches. His experience of representing India in 2016 can also work in his favour as the left-arm pacer has vital experience of playing at the highest level.

The 27-year-old has played 24 games in IPL and has 18 wickets against his name. He played for Mumbai Indians in the last season and by including him in the squad, SRH can rope in a decent bowler with much-needed experience.

He was also a part of the SRH team that won the 2016 season of IPL. Notably, David Warner was the skipper of SRH in 2016 as well and that could go in Sran’s favour. If SRH rope in Iran as Bhuvi’s replacement, his role will be to take wickets upfront in the Powerplay to provide a desirable start to SRH.