The SunRisers Hyderabad will look to put a disastrous 2021 season behind them as they begin a new chapter under Kane Williamson’s captaincy in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2022. Their intention of wanting to start from scratch was evident as they kept only Williamson and two uncapped players in Pacer Umran Malik and Abdul Samad ahead of the mega auction.
SunRisers Hyderabad, who have been one of the most consistent sides since winning the title in 2016, ended last year on the wooden spoon, winning just 3 of their 14 games. They were plagued by unfiled controversy and their former captain, David Warner, was stripped of captaincy and eventually thrown off the side. Despite Williamson taking over mid-season, SRH was unable to reverse their fortunes.
Williamson will be hoping to make an impact when he returns from a long layoff due to injury concerns. After unleashing David Warner and Rashid Khan, two of their biggest match winners over the years, SRH needs to find a winning rhythm fast.
VVS Laxman, the side’s mentor, has also left SRH to take on the role of NCA boss but the former champions have a strong support group in Tom Moody, Muttiah Muralitharan and new recruits Brian Lara and Dale Steyn to help a young to lead team. Simon Katich, who sat with them at the auction table in February, quit the role ahead of the new season.
SRH spent heavily to bring back uncapped all-rounder Abhishek Sharma and suggested they will continue to support young talent.
They also brought back Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan and Priyam Garg to ensure they had familiar faces on their side.
However, eyebrows were raised as they splurged heavily on Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd and Washington Sundar. The former champions spent almost Rs 25 crore to secure the services of the trio.
SRH have some good foreign pacers in Marco Jansen, Shepherd and Sean Abbot to back up their Indian Quicks. The addition of Kartik Tyagi, who toured Australia as a net bowler last year, adds firepower to their local pace bowling attack.
However, letting go of Rashid has weakened her spin bowling arsenal. Off-spinner Washington Sundar is expected to lead the attack with the likes of Shreyas Gopal and J Suchih for company.
However, SRH’s striking unit, especially its finishing, will come under the scanner. While names like Williamson, Pooran and Rahul Tripathi are solid names in the top order, they will again have to rely on Samad to put the finishing touches on them.
The lack of a big Indian name in the middle tier could hurt them and SRH will need to push themselves if they are to make the top four and prove that the 2021 season was just a streak of their impressive performances.
SRH SQUAD – IPL 2022
Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, Umran Malik, Washington Sundar, Nicholas Pooran, T. Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Priyam Garg, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Karik Tyagi, Shreyas Gopal, Jagadeesha Suchith, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Romario Shepherd, Sean Abbott, R Samarth, Saurabh Dubey, Shashank Singh, Vishnu Vinod, Glenn Philips, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
