After the sacking of David Warner from the Indian Premier League following his role in the ball-tampering saga, Sunrisers Hyderabad replaced him with England opener Alex Hales for the upcoming season.

The Englishman had enlisted himself for the auction but wasn’t picked during the process. It was quite surprising given the fact that he had a great Natwest T20 Blast last year, scoring 507 runs in 16 innings with a strike-rate of an astonishing 204.43.

His chance, however, came when David Warner was ousted from the tournament as Hyderabad called him up to replace their disgraced former captain. Meanwhile, Hales didn’t hide his elation and labeled the IPL as the biggest domestic competition in the world.

“I’m excited to be given this opportunity by the Sunrisers to play in arguably the biggest domestic tournament in the world,” said Hales.

Hales is set to miss at least two Royal London Cup matches should his team reach the knock-out of the competition, but has thanked Nottinghamshire for the way they showed their backing for him.

 “I wish to thank Notts for their support. While it’s disappointing to miss matches for Outlaws, when I return to England I will be match hardened and ready to give my all to their cause.”