IPL 2021: Sunrisers Hyderabad Preview - David Warner's SRH Look for Second Title

Surisers Hyderabad is one of the more consistent units in the IPL, and has shown that over the years. The side is backed by some strong international performers, as well as equally potent India players, which makes SRH a formidable team. 2020 was once again, a season where they qualified for the knockouts, albeit marginally. They played 14 matches, winning seven and losing as many. It wasn’t the kind of run, the David Warner-led side would have hoped for, but made giant strides in the latter half of IPL 2020 — winning last three encounters, to finish third in the leagues.

Not just that, if one keeps in mind the eliminator against Royal Challengers Bangalore, then the side made it four out of four — which just goes on to show, how they are a momentum-driven side.

Form Guide – 2020

Ever since the inception of the team, SRH are a bowling heavy side, and are reliant on their top-3 to score major chunk of their runs. In the last two years, when Shikhar Dhawan left the team, the onus has fallen on the shoulders of skipper Warner and Kane Williamson. But despite that, they somehow find the groove, and manage to take bail their team out of tough situations. 2020 was no different, when their batting wasn’t firing, they brought in Wriddhiman Saha and Priyam Garg, with a promotion for Manish Pandey at no.3.

As usual, in bowling, Rashid Khan was the star with 20 wickets, but the surprise package, after Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s entry was Jason Holder, who changed things around for the team, with 14 scalps in seven matches. T Natarajan was impeccable at the death with his yorkers, and produced 16 wickets. While David Warner was the star with the bat once again, scoring 548 runs in the tournament.

IPL auction 2021 recap

Here’s a look at who all they have picked up this year:

Total: 3 | Mujeeb-ur-Rehman, Kedar Jadhav, J Suchith

Budget spent: 3.8 cr

Entering into the auction, SRH had the least budget of all the teams. And the reason for that is simple — the team wanted to retain the core group of players, who have successfully performed well for the side. They have never missed the knockouts since 2016, and so only three players were bought, mostly to solidify the middle-order. The best pick for them could be Jadhav, who is an aggressive batsman, and a useful bowler, who has a knack to pick up wickets.

Team combination:

It is a no-brainer that Warner and Jonny Bairstow will open the innings. The latter has displayed supreme form in the series against India. That means that Kane Williamson might have to sit out in a few games, as only four overseas players are allowed in the side. The middle-order could be bolstered by Manish Pandey, Priyam Garg, Kedar Jadhav, and either or Abhishek Sharma or Virat Singh. Rashid Khan is a must-have along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and perhaps Jason Holder. They might rotate the use of other bowlers.

First match: vs Kolkata Knight Riders, April 11, Mumbai.

Probable XI: David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan, Kedar Jadhav.

Full squad: David Warner (c), Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Sreevats Goswami (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Virat Singh, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul, Basil Thampi, Jagadeesha Suchith, Kedar Jadhav, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman

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• IPL 2021
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