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Sunrisers Hyderabad came into the IPL auctions after retaining last season’s highest run scorer and wicket taker.
They spent their money wisely to assemble one of the strongest sides of this season. They were regarded as early favourites to qualify to the playoffs.
However, just a couple of weeks before the IPL, trouble struck as David Warner got banned.
Alex Hales has joined the squad to replace the Australian. In absence of Warner, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will lead the team. Sunrisers Hyderabad should still qualify from the group stage.
Although it must be seen how the team copes in absence of their best player.
Franchise profile
Captain: Kane Williamson
Coach: Tom Moody
Squad: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey, Rashid Khan, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha, Siddarth Kaul, Deepak Hooda, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Kane Williamson (C), Carlos Brathwaite, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Shreevats Goswami, Mohammad Nabi, Chris Jordan, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan, Sachin Baby, Bipul Sharma, Syed Mehdi Hasan, Ricky Bhui and Tanmay Agarwal, Alex Hales, Billy Stanlake
Likely playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Wriddhiman Saha, Shakib Al Hassan, Deepak Hooda, Carlos Brathwaite, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Siddharth Kaul
Key players: Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson playing for the Kiwis. (AFP PHOTO / MARTY MELVILLE)
Strengths
1) Depth in the squad: At the end of the auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad emerged as one of the strongest squads.
Not only they have a big squad, Sunrisers covered all the bases while assembling it. For their likely XI, Sunrisers have Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Nabi, Chris Jordan, Basil Thampi, Ricky Bhui, Billy Stanlake and Alex Hales as potential replacements.
Hence, they have a potential second XI who can be competitive in the tournament. The side will certainly miss Warner. If their players up their game and blend well under Williamson’s leadership, this can be another big IPL for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
2) A strong top three: It’s not too bad to have Kane Williamson come in to replace David Warner in your side. Within Dhawan, Williamson and Pandey, Sunrisers Hyderabad have one of the most settled top threes in the tournament. They bring in loads of experience and heaps of talent into this side.
Going by statistics, these three bring over 11,000 runs in the shortest format of the game. Dhawan’s flamboyance, Williamson’s technique and Pandey’s class may set Sunrisers apart from their competitors. Sunrisers management and fans will hope that these three bring their rich vein of form to this IPL.
3) Strong bowling: In Rashid Khan and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Sunrisers Hyderabad have two of the best bowlers in limited overs cricket. To complement these two, they will have Shakib Al Hassan and three among Nabi, Brathwaite, Thampi, Kaul, Sharma, Natrajan and Khaleel Ahmed. With these five bowlers, Sunrisers Hyderabad boast a quality bowling attack.
If they bowl to their career record, Bhuvaneshwar and Rashid will yield just under 52 runs with around three wickets in their eight overs!
Sunrisers Hyderabad come into this tournament with a bowling attack potent enough to defend any total or restrict the opposition to a small score.
Weakness
1) No David Warner: In a killer blow before the tournament, David Warner is banned from this edition of the IPL. Sunrisers without Warner is like Real Madrid except Ronaldo. He is one of the best players in the tournament’s history. Such were his performances over last two seasons, that Warner amassed 1498 runs.
(AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)
He led from the front as Sunrisers Hyderabad won their maiden crown in 2016 and reached playoffs last year. Their best player, Warner brought an unmatchable enigma to this strong Sunrisers line-up. While they have good back-ups for Australia’s former T20 captain, it will be extremely tough to have a similar impact like Warner. His absence takes away a considerable fear factor off this team.
2) A relatively brittle middle order: Sunrisers Hyderabad have a strong top three and a talented bowling contingency. It is the middle order which looks a bit brittle. After Manish Pandey, there does not seem a batsman who can anchor the innings. While Shakib has done it time and again for Bangladesh, he has been a bowling all- rounder in the IPL.
While Hooda is talented and Brathwaite is charismatic, Saha is the only experienced batsman. However, he has always been a slogger- finisher for his earlier teams. If their top order fails, Sunrisers Hyderabad may find themselves in trouble to muster big scores this IPL.
Opportunities
1) Manish Pandey: Manish Pandey broke into public eye after India’s successful 2008 Under-19 world cup campaign. In 2009, he become the first Indian to score an IPL century. After a few inconsistent seasons, Pandey has finally cemented his position in India’s limited- overs setup.
He was pivotal as India won limited overs’ tournaments in South Africa and the Nidahas trophy in Sri Lanka. He has been a vital factor in India’s middle order in last couple of years. For this IPL, Pandey will likely occupy number three slot.
A successful tournament is certain to make him a mainstay in India’s limited overs’ team. Sunrisers will hope that Pandey performs to his potential during this IPL.
2) Young Indian seamers: As mentioned above, Sunrisers have five of the leading young pacemen in India’s domestic circuit. While Thampi was good for Gujarat Lions in last IPL, Sharma was the backbone of Kings XI Punjab for last four seasons.
Natrajan’s reputation has grown for his consistent performances for Tamil Nadu and Ahmed is touted as the next big thing in India’s domestic cricket. This IPL is especially big for Siddharth Kaul. The paceman who spearheaded India’s 2008 Under-19 World Cup winning campaign, Kaul has a knack of wicket taking.
He was a squad member at last year’s ODI series against Sri Lanka. With India may likely need to search a replacement troubled Mohammad Shami , strong performances in this IPL can bring any of these in attention of India’s selectors.
3) Deepak Hooda: Yet to debut for India, Baroda’s captain Deepak Hooda is one of the most explosive batsmen in the tournament. Still only 22, he already has a 5-year experience of T20 cricket. Sunrisers Hyderabad used a Right To Match (RTM) card to get him for this season.
Notably, Hooda’s signing fee at just over $720,000 was touted as one of the smart buys of this IPL auction. In 79 career T20’s so far, Hooda was scored 1102 runs at a mammoth strike rate of 143.48. He has also been a handy fielder and utility bowler.
Hooda has been an effective slogger- finisher for last three seasons of the tournament. He made it to India’s Nidahas Trophy squad. A strong IPL is all he needs to cement his position in India’s T20 squad to England.
Threats
1) Fallout of David Warner scandal: Unavailability of Warner affects Sunrisers on many levels. His absence threatens to disturb the balance of their team. Hyderabad will be without their best batsman.
They will also need to promote Manish Pandey at number three spot and have a relatively brittle middle order. Warner’s absence will demand every player in Sunrisers to up their game. Warner brings a combination of quick runs with a big score.
Sunrisers batsmen must make sure that they don’t miss Warner too much. Another concern for this side is their morale. Just a couple of weeks before the tournament, Hyderabad have lost their influential leader. Kane Williamson and his senior players must lead from the front if Sunrisers Hyderabad must up their morale and justify their talent.
2) Leadership of Kane Williamson: In last few years, Kane Williamson has emerged as one of the best international captains.
He is New Zealand’s best player. He has been an astute leader for his national side. However, leading Sunrisers Hyderabad will be an altogether different challenge for the New Zealander. He is opposite to their captain of last three seasons.
He is composed to Warner’s aggressiveness, he is a thinking captain to Warner’s dynamism and he is from the traditional mould as compared to Warner’s shrewdness. While Williamson has been a champion captain, his qualities are different than Warner’s.
It will be interesting to see if Sunrisers Hyderabad can reciprocate their performance under a captain with different philosophies. Failure to do so can lead to a frustrating campaign for this side.
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