With a purse of Rs 42.25 crore ahead of the mini-auction in December last year, the Sunrisers Hyderabad were the busiest team on the table as they pressed the ‘reset’ button after a disappointing couple of seasons. The franchise’s decision to spend the big bucks on Kane Williamson (Rs 14 crore) and Abdul Samad (Rs 4 crore) ahead of the mega auction did raise eyebrows and the move clearly backfired as they failed to put together a solid squad for the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League and finished a disappointing eighth. The 2021 season was even worse as they ended at the bottom of the table and clearly looked a unit short on planning and execution.
IPL 2023: SRH preview and strongest playing XI
Two seasons and a brilliant mini-auction later, the team now wears a formidable look as it has assembled a quality squad featuring plenty of match-winners. The Sunrisers are not enjoying the pre-season attention they should and could well turn out to be the side that sneaks its way to the top of the table this year. With a fine blend of uncapped Indian players and international stars, SRH have all bases covered and certainly have what it takes to get their hands on the IPL trophy for the second time.
The batting order wears a dangerous look and enjoys a lot of depth, spin has a lot of variety and seam bowling has plenty of pace and accuracy. In Aiden Markram, they have a skipper who doesn’t have any previous baggage and recent highs in the SA20 and the international arena will only help.
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Fire at the top
In Mayank Agarwal and Abhishek Sharma, SRH have a solid left-right opening combination. Out of the Indian team, Agarwal went through the domestic grind with Karnataka this season and did rediscover his mojo. The right-hander would want to use this IPL season to knock on the selectors’ door again. The door which he had broken down with bucket loads of runs for Karnataka before making his India debut. For Sharma, it’s time to translate potential into consistent performances. Rated very highly, the elegant southpaw has shown flashes of brilliance during his odd IPL knock and it’s now time he takes the next step with a bumper season. The Punjab youngster is a handy left-arm spinner too and brings a lot to the table.
If Agarwal and Sharma won’t get you, the next man definitely will. Rahul Tripathi has been impressive in the IPL for his intent and he made a seamless transition to the international arena with similar performances for the Indian cricket team in the shortest format. The three batters lend a very dangerous look to SRH’s top order and will pose plenty of problems for opposition captains.
Fire and ice in the middle, with needed depth
Markram, for most of the previous season, didn’t get enough support from the other end as the SRH middle-order continued to blow hot and cold. The franchise tried plenty of uncapped Indian players – Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad – and international stars like Nicholas Pooran in the past but the returns were far from consistent. This year, however, Markram will have England’s T20 sensation Harry Brook and compatriot Heinrich Klassen for company.
Following them will be the very useful Washington Sundar who is a very underrated batter and has the game to excel in any format. Even if SRH have to bench Klassen to beef up the overseas bowling option, Upendra Yadav, the other wicketkeeper in the squad, is a very promising batter and has already made it to India A squad. The team also has the likes of Samad, Samarth Vyas and Anmolpreet Singh in the squad and all three can hit the ball a fair distance with utmost ease.
Spin to win
For years, Rashid Khan was the leader of the pack with his wicket-taking abilities and control during difficult periods of the game. Ever since he moved to Gujarat Titans, the SRH attack has lacked the spin bite and the franchise has tried to address that with the inclusion of Adil Rashid and Mayank Markande. Rashid is a skillful bowler in the format and did really well for England during their title run at the 2022 T20 World Cup. Sundar will shoulder spin-bowling responsibilities with Rashid and Markram also has the option of using himself and Sharma.
If the surfaces encourage spin, there’s a Mayank Dagar in the squad too. The left-armer has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit for Himachal Pradesh, can hit meaty blows lower down the order and is a gun fielder.
Pace, swing and accuracy
SRH have a pace attack which wears a very complete look. Led by the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar, it has penetration with the new ball, Umran Malik’s raw pace in the middle overs and T Natarajan’s accuracy at the death. The likes of Kartik Tyagi, Marco Jansen and Fazalhaq Farooqi lend more variety to this line-up and will allow the captain to have all bases covered for different tracks.
Not many teams manage to get the auction their way and now that SRH have, they would hope the players play to their potential and help the franchise return to winning ways.
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