Extensively considered one of many hardest T20 competitions on the planet, just a few groups have managed to win the coveted Indian Premier League (IPL) title since its inception in 2008. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are one such staff having received their prestigious title in 2016 underneath the management of David Warner. SRH have been runner-ups two years after their 2016 success in 2018, and made it to the playoffs in 2013, 2017, 2019 and 2020 as nicely. However they have not superior past the league stage prior to now three years, and completed on the backside of the standings in 2021 and 2023.
Ever since IPL 2021, SRH have regarded like an unsettled unit and have modified captains 3 times in simply as a few years with Warner on the helm in 2021, Kane Williamson in 2022, and Aiden Markram in 2023.
SRH’s head coaches, too, have not been afforded the posh of settling in. Trevor Bayliss was in cost in 2021, Tom Moody in 2022, and Brian Lara in 2023.
IPL 2024 will see the 2016 champions being led by one other new skipper in Australia’s Pat Cummins they usually even have a few new faces within the teaching workers with Daniel Vettori as head coach and James Franklin as their quick bowling coach.
In November 2023, SRH received Shahbaz Ahmed after Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) traded him for Mayank Dagar within the buying and selling window.
Later, within the mini-auction, SRH shattered all bidding data by buying the providers of Australia’s World Cup-winning captain, Pat Cummins for a whopping 20.5 crore – second solely to the file 24.75 crore, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) paid for Mitchell Starc.
Aside from Cummins, in addition they received some steals in Travis Head (6.8 crore) and Wanindu Hasaranga (1.5 crore), each of whom will strengthen their abroad contingent.
As per the two-week schedule introduced by the Board of Management for Cricket in India (BCCI), SRH kickstart their IPL 2024 season in opposition to KKR on the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 23.
As SRH put together for a brand new season underneath a brand new skipper, let’s check out their strengths, weaknesses, alternatives, and threats.
Energy
SRH have historically been a bowling-heavy facet having defended low totals on loads of events prior to now and the arrival of Pat Cummins will solely enhance Hyderabad’s tempo battery.
Final yr, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mayank Markande have been among the many wickets however they did not get a lot assist from the remainder of their bowling assault. IPL 2023 noticed Bhuvneshwar and Markande scalp 16 and 12 wickets at first rate economies of 8.3 and seven.8, respectively.
Moreover, the addition of Wanindu Hasaranga will act as a lift to the comparatively inexperienced spin division of SRH. The Sri Lankan T20I captain will be a part of forces with the likes of Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Jhathavedh Subramanyan, and Markande.
General, the Hyderabad franchise has a top quality abroad contingent. Their new buys – Cummins, Head, and Hasaranga will share the dressing room with the likes of Heinrich Klaasen, Glenn Phillips, Marco Jansen, Fazalhaq Farooqi, and former skipper Aiden Markram.
Weak spot
In contrast to different IPL franchises, SRH lack distinguished Indian gamers who usually play worldwide cricket. They do have famend home gamers like Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Umran Malik, and Abdul Samad however they have not been at their greatest in current white-ball tournaments just like the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023-24 and the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023-24.
Not one of the Indian batters scored greater than 300 runs for SRH final yr. Rahul Tripathi and Mayank Agarwal had topsy-turvy campaigns with 273 and 270 runs respectively.
Alternatives
The appointment of Pat Cummins as SRH skipper acquired combined reactions however there is no doubting his captaincy pedigree on the worldwide stage.
Cummins has performed a powerful job for Australia’s nationwide facet as a captain within the final two years. In 2023, the 30-year-old received the ODI World Cup in India, the World Check Championship and likewise retained the Ashes in England.
In the meantime, Indian veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been out of India’s T20I schemes for a very long time. He final performed a T20I sport for India in November 2022. Nevertheless, he is had home season and can hope to hold his momentum into IPL 2024 as he eyes a spot in India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in June.
Risk
SRH received solely 4 of their 14 matches and completed backside of the standings in IPL 2023 once they have been captained by Markram who led SRH’s satellite tv for pc facet, Sunrisers Jap Cape, to 2 consecutive title wins (2023 and 2024) within the SA20 competitors.
Nevertheless, Cummins will substitute Markram as captain for the 2024 season though it is price noting that the Australian has not led a facet within the IPL earlier than. He has, in actual fact, by no means led a staff in top-flight T20 cricket earlier than. His T20 numbers as a bowler are additionally not the very best with the Australian pacer choosing up 145 wickets in 130 matches at an financial system of seven.99 in 20-over cricket.
All issues thought-about, it is secure to say that whether or not or not Cummins will justify his worth and ship good performances for SRH within the upcoming season could have a serious bearing on the staff’s fortunes.
One other facet that SRH would possibly need to be cautious about is their quite a few injury-prone gamers within the squad. The likes of Washington Sundar, Travis Head, T Natarajan, and Wanindu Hasaranga have been identified to spend so much of time on the therapy desk over the previous couple of years and if that’s to proceed, then SRH are already combating an uphill battle.
Possible Taking part in XII:
Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Agarwal, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Abdul Samad (impression sub)
Matters talked about on this article