Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) coach Tom Moody said on Sunday that Bangladesh's left-arm pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman is expected to join the franchise on 7 April after playing the final match of the limited overs series against Sri Lanka.

There were unconfirmed reports that said that the 'cutter master' will not be available during this season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after playing a major role in SRH's title triumph last year.

"At this stage, we are expecting him to come. We have not had any official word in any other way. We are expecting him to be here on (April) 7th. Unless we hear differently from BCB, we will continue to expect him," he said.

Sunrisers Hyderabad takes on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on 5 April in the inaugural match which Mustafizur will be missing.

According to Moody, there's no pressure being defending champions.

"To me, it's not just another chapter, actually another book. So, I am not concerned about last year of anything. Just proud of what the players achieved last year," he told reporters.

There are no injury concerns too for the side at the moment, the Australian veteran said.

Moody defended concerns regarding David Warner's lean patch.

"Warner is 100 percent fit and he would soon join the team shortly from Australia, where he is spending quality time with his family," he said.

To a query, he said the team is also not worried about the form of Shikhar Dhawan, who has had a lean period, and he was confident that the opener would come good when it would be required. Dhawan, on the other hand, has found some form in Deodhar Trophy.

Moody said that Afghans Rashid Khan Arman and Mohammed Nabi will add value to the squad.

"We are really excited about both Nabi and Rashid. Both have (had) terrific, not only couple of months, but over a year of form. Both add lot of variety to the squad. Rashid is obviously a pretty unique leg-spinner. We welcome both of them and look forward to working with them," he said.

SRH players Ben Laughlin and Chris Jordan, who were also present on the occasion, said they are looking forward to the tournament.

Updated Date: April 03, 2017 11:00:49 IST

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