Name: Sunrisers Hyderabad- Captain: David Warner
- Head Coach: Trevor Bayliss
- Home Ground: Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
- Squad members: 25
- Best result: Champions in IPL 2016
With the Deccan Chargers team being disbanded, Sunrisers Hyderabad came into being in IPL 2013 and in their seven seasons so far, they’ve missed the playoffs just twice, made the final twice and won the title once. They’ve always had the reputation of owning the best bowling attack in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but over the years, they’ve worked on strengthening their batting as well, which makes them a threat, ALWAYS. The only thing that one can only ask from them is a little bit more consistency!
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They retained 18 players which goes to show how much they believe in the core members of their team, which includes 6 overseas players. They have a couple of world class batsmen in Kane Williamson and David Warner and while Kane is probably among the best in the world, Warner’s IPL record id second to none with 4,700+ runs in 126 career IPL matches which includes 692 runs in IPL 2019 and five consecutive seasons where he’s scored 500+ runs.
Kane’s record dwarfs in comparison with only 1,300+ IPL runs but he did manage a stellar season with 700+ runs in IPL 2018. They also have English wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow who scored 445 runs in only 10 games at IPL 2019 which means that if his form is good coming into IPL 2020, we might have three overseas players at the top of the SRH batting line-up which leaves only one spot for the other 5 overseas players in the squad.
Talking about the overseas players, there’s no chance one can leave Rashid Khan out of the playing eleven. Tipped to be among the best T20 bowlers in the world, Rashid has 55 wickets in three IPL seasons, going at an economy rate of only 6.55! This means it’s going to be nearly impossible for the likes of Mitchell Marsh, Fabian Allen, Mohammad Nabi and Billy Stanlake to break into the side.
With IPL 2020 being shifted to UAE, it’s unlikely Stanlake will make the side because these aren’t bouncy pitches. Also, the other three in contention are all-rounders. We’re expecting Nabi to be most likely to get a game in case they decide to leave one overseas batsman out, because of all his experience playing T20 leagues across the world. This team will surely face some selection issues on the overseas front though!
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Talking about our Indian players, we have the ever dependable Bhuvneshwar Kumar but he’s only managed 22 wickets in his last two IPL seasons (27 matches) which is way below his wicket-taking standards. However, he is well backed up by the likes of Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, and Sandeep Sharma. In case these 4 Indian pacers aren’t enough, they’ve decided to add Thangarasu Natarajan and Basil Thampi as back-ups too!
However, we’re guessing we won’t really need to get to those backup players because of the depth of this squad. On the spin front, they have Shahbaz Nadeem who is most likely to get a game only when Nabi isn’t in the side, because they wouldn’t want to overload their side with spinners. However, he’ll be ready whenever called upon, being one of the top wicket-takers in Ranji Trophy cricket in recent years
They’ll have a few headaches in the wicket-keeping department too, as Wriddhiman Saha and Shreevats Goswami both eye for a spot. Saha is the first choice but if Bairstow is picked, both may get the axe. In the middle order though, please beware of Manish Pandey who has done nothing but matured as a cricketer over the years, now also a regular part of the Indian limited overs side. Pandey has 15 fifties and 1 century in 130 IPL career matches including 344 runs in 12 games in IPL 2019!
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD SQUAD FOR IPL 2020: Kane Williamson(C), David Warner, Manish Pandey, Priyam Garg, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Billy Stanlake, Thangarasu Natarajan, Virat Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mitchell Marsh, Fabian Allen, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Sanjay Yadav, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha, Bavanaka Sandeep, Basil Thampi, Shreevats Goswami.
I’m a big fan of Allen and Mitch Marsh but alas, I won’t see them much in IPL 2020. Instead, I’ll see a lot of Vijay Shankar, someone who showed promise, made his debut for India, but hasn’t backed his talent with numbers recently. This is the x-factor player who will have to improve on 244 runs and 1 wicket from IPL 2019 if SRH has to win their second IPL trophy. Stay tuned to ReadScoops.com for updates on CSK’s IPL 2020 journey…
