Unhappy Katich tenders resignation from SRH assistant coach’s post over baffling auction big buys

PTI, Feb 18, 2022, 4:27 PM IST

Image Credit: ANI

Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad is once again in news for all the wrong reasons after former Australian batter Simon Katich resigned from the post of assistant coach after reportedly being unhappy with some of the side’s hefty auction buys.

Katich, who along with West Indies legend Brian Lara and former India batter Hemang Badani, were added to the SRH coaching group headed by Tom Moody and Muttiah Muralitharan, resigned immediately after the auction.

Although the SRH management, headed by Kavya Maran, hasn’t yet issued an official statement, it is understood that his resignation has been accepted and well-known coach Simon Helmot, who has earlier worked with the franchise, has been brought back. ‘The Australian’ reported that Katich’s resignation was primarily because the pre-auction strategy discussed wasn’t followed at the two-day auction where SRH had some whopping big buys like Nicholas Pooran (Rs 10.75 crore), Washington Sundar (8.75 crores), and Rahul Tripathi (8.50 crore).

Some of the SRH big buys have been baffling although it’s not always a player’s quality but the auction dynamics that determine the final price of a player. Left-handed spin bowling all-rounder Abhishek Sharma’s Rs 6.75 crore deal also grabbed eyeballs.

Abhishek is being looked at as a potential opener for this edition of IPL.

The 21-year-old hasn’t done anything in his four seasons in the league which would warrant such a steep price and many were shocked at Pooran’s bid after he had endured one of the worst IPL seasons in the UAE last time round.

SRH’s three retentions have also come under scanner as they couldn’t convince their best performer spinner Rashid Khan to stay back while keeping New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who has a recurrent elbow condition.

Add to that, they kept two Kashmiri youngsters, pacer Urman Malik, more for his raw pace, and Abdul Samad for his big-hitting prowess for Rs 4 crore each.

Even Romario Shepherd, who might not get a start, was bought for over a million dollars (Rs 7.75 crore), based on his CPL exploits.

The SRH management was embroiled in the controversy last year when they stripped David Warner from captaincy and then unceremoniously dumped him from the playing eleven during the second phase in the UAE. The Australian, who led SRH to its only IPL title in 2016, was also not allowed to sit in the dug-out.

Coach Trevor Bayliss and assistant coach Brad Haddin were not retained after the season but Moody, who was the ‘Director of Cricket’ back then is now head coach and Muralitharan stayed back as the premier brains in the team management.