SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) are set to kick off their IPL 2022 campaign on Tuesday against Rajasthan Royals. Last season, the champions of IPL
2016, SRH finished at the bottom of the points table. Ahead of the 15th edition of the T20 league, the SRH have rebuilt their squad in quest of a better result.
Some of their renowned players were released to give the team a fresh look.

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David Warner and Rashid Khan are no longer part of
SunRisers Hyderabad’s set-up. To replace them, SRH bought Nicholas Pooran, at
Rs 10.75 crore, their most expensive buy at the IPL 2022 auction. Washington
Sundar (Rs 8.75 crore) and Rahul Tripathi (Rs 8.50 crore) were some of their
other big investments.

SRH retained Kane Williamson, who took over the
captaincy midway through the IPL 2021, and the uncapped duo of Abdul Samad and
Umran Malik.

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Here is a SWOT analysis of the SunRisers Hyderabad
squad:

Strengths:
The pace attack

SunRisers Hyderabad have built a strong pace attack
which is a mix of experienced and young faces. Seasoned pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar
will lead the pace attack, while T Natarajan will be their death overs
specialist. They also have Sean Abbott and Marco Jansen among their overseas
signings, while all-rounder Romario Shepherd will be another pace option.

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Besides these known names, they have two promising
youngsters in Umran Malik and Kartik Tyagi, who are fast and can rattle
oppositions with their varieties.

Weakness:
The spin department

In the spin department, SRH will find it difficult to
get a replacement for Rashid Khan, the highly acclaimed T20 bowler from
Afghanistan. In the auction, they could not find any suitable replacement for
him.  All-rounder Washington Sundar is a
handy off-spinner, who can even bowl in the Powerplay, but is not a prolific
wicket-taker like Rashid Khan.

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Shreyas Gopal is expected to take up the place of
Rashid Khan in the SRH XI, but he had a dismal outing with Rajasthan Royals
last season.

Going through the middle overs will be a challenge for
the team with their bowling attack.

Opportunity:
Youngsters to step up

SRH got several youngsters in their squad. Their focus
on the auction was on rising stars. The likes of Washington Sundar, Abhishek
Sharma, Abdul Samad, Umran Malik and Priyam Garg form the young core. If
groomed well, they could be assets for the Hyderabad based franchise. Even
Marco Jansen, the South African pacer, is a youngster with a bright future.

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Threat:
The batting

With no David Warner, Jonny Bairstow and Manish Pandey
in their squad, SRH will face a big dilemma this season if their youngsters
fail to perform. The batting department is heavily built around Kane
Williamson. Opener Rahul Tripathi is also a handy batter. But the patchy form
of Nicholas Pooran, the team’s most expensive buy, could make things difficult
for SRH. Abhishek Sharma and Priyam Garg are also youngsters, they may need
time to settle down.

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While all three have shown promise, their lack of
experience can prove to be challenging over the course of the season.

Nevertheless, there will be huge pressure on
Williamson, Pooran and Tripathi to do the heavy lifting for them.