Once among the most consistent teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Sunrisers Hyderabad’s stocks have taken a hit in recent seasons. The ‘Orange Army’ won their only title in only their fourth appearance at the world’s grandest T20 league and would reach the playoffs in four consecutive seasons thereafter, including a runner-up finish in 2018.
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The Sunrisers however, have finished eighth in each of the last two seasons — at the very bottom in 2021 and in a 10-team table the following season — that has since led to the exits of skippers David Warner and Kane Williamson from the franchise.
After an Aussie and a Kiwi, the Sunrisers turned to a young Proteas star for leadership to try and revive their fledgling fortunes. And the team owners were justified in choosing Aiden Markram as their next leader, given he has an ICC title (2014 U-19 World Cup), and more recently, the inaugural SA20 title under his belt.
Markram did help the team overcome back-to-back defeats, the first of which came under Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s temporary leadership, with victories over Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders. Just when their fortunes appeared to be on the mend, SRH found itself back at square one following losses away from home against Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. Though they’re tied on four points with KKR, they sit at the ninth spot due to their inferior Net Run Rate (-0.794) — the second-worst so far this season after the bottom-ranked Delhi Capitals (-1.183).
So where exactly have things gone wrong for the Sunrisers despite showing glimpses of promise under Markram’s leadership and having a solid squad at their disposal thanks to some smart purchases at the player auction.
For starters, their most expensive purchase at the auction has turned out to be something of a one-knock wonder so far this season. Harry Brook, who went to SRH for Rs 13.25 crore, has set the international stage on fire in both red and white-ball cricket and has also bossed T20 tournaments across the world. A lot was expected from him in the IPL, where he did silence critics in style with a 55-ball ton — the first of the season — that was central to the Sunrisers’ victory over the Knight Riders at Eden Gardens.
Since that century however, he’s been dismissed for scores of 9 and 18 and has a sum total of 56 runs in five outings barring that ton. And barring Brook, none of the other SRH opening options have gone past the 50-mark, with Mayank Agarwal — who has been shuffled from the top to the middle order — coming the closest with his 41-ball 48 against MI. So getting off to solid starts and utilising the powerplay to its fullest has been something of an issue for the ‘Orange Army’.
Skipper Markram has also had flashes of brilliance this season, but hasn’t quite found the consistency that he would’ve hoped for. Fellow South African Heinrich Klaasen too has shown glimpses of his clean-striking ability, but found himself stranded in Chennai when the going got tough. And Rahul Tripathi, considered a bankable batting option in the league at No 3 or as an opener, has had three low scores since his match-winning 74 not out against Punjab.
The bowling department has fared slightly better than the batters, who have been guilty of not giving the bowlers enough cushion to comfortably execute their jobs on at least a couple of occasions, including in their last game against CSK on a slightly tricky Chepauk surface. Mayank Markande was the star of their win against Punjab Kings with a haul of 4/15 in his first appearance this season, and he followed it up with a spell of 2/27 from four in a high-scoring game in Kolkata where both sides crossed 200.
As for the seam department, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been a lot more economical after getting off to expensive starts in the first two games, it is the manner in which the likes of Marco Jansen and T Natarajan have bled runs that will worry head coach Brian Lara and the rest of the leadership group.
Fortunately for SRH, they face a beleaguered Delhi Capitals in each of their next two outings, the first of which takes place on their home turf of the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. And if SRH has had it tough, David Warner and Co have had it infinitely worse.
Sunrisers, thus, will be eyeing back-to-back wins to get their campaign back on track and get to the playoffs once again.
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