Sunrisers Hyderabad were hit by an injury to Jack Edwards signed for Rs 3 crore in the mini auction of IPL 2026. Ahead of the opening match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on March 28, SRH named England pacer David Payne as his replacement. Payne was signed for Rs 1.5 million.
Who is David Payne?
David Alan Payne is an English left-arm fast and medium bowler who made his debut for Gloucestershire in 2009. He has represented England at U-19 level in both Test matches and One Day Internationals. He was named as part of the squad for the 2010 U-19 Cricket World Cup. The 35-year-old Payne, who has played one ODI for England, has 233 T20s to his name, taking 304 wickets. His only international appearance came in 2022 against the Netherlands where he shared the new ball with David Willey and took one wicket.He is Gloucestershire’s leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket and was the leading wicket-taker in the 2024 T20 Blast, taking 33 wickets in 17 innings. He also played in Welsh Fire in the Hundred. Payne appeared in the BBL, being named man of the match in the BBL15 (2025–26) final when 3–18 helped the Perth Scorchers secure their sixth title against the Sydney Sixers. On his own, he played two ILT20 seasons for the Desert Vipers.
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Gujarat Titans believe ahead of IPL 2026: ‘We are here to win, not participate’ The IPL issued an official media statement announcing the replacement of KKR and SRH ahead of IPL 2026.”KKR, SRH pick replacement players for TATA IPL 2026Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have picked Saurabh Dubey and David Payne as players for the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. off-season due to lumbar strain injury. He will be under the care of the BCCI medical team at the BCCI Center of Excellence (COE) in Bengaluru for further treatment of his injury. Left-arm paceman Saurabh will replace Akash in KKR. He joins KKR for INR 30 Lakh. Meanwhile, Payne is filling in for the injured Jack Edwards at SRH. Payne played one ODI for England, plus 233 T20s, scalping 304 wickets. He will join SRH for INR 1.5 crore.” However, SRH will already be missing Pat Cummins at the start of the tournament, with Ishan Kishan named as the interim captain. While Akash Deep is currently being monitored at the BCCI Center of Excellence in Bengaluru.
