SunRisers Hyderabad will begin their IPL 2022 campaign on Tuesday against Rajasthan Royals at the MCA Stadium in Pune. SRH are one of the most consistent Indian Premier League (IPL) sides. But last season they yielded their worst possible performance in the IPL, finishing at the bottom of the league table. This season, in a revamped look, the Orange Army, under the captaincy of Kane Williamson, will look to get back to their old blastic form.
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After last season’s lackluster performance, the Hyderabad-based side released the core team to rebuild on youngsters. Famed names like David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Rashid Khan and Jason Holder are no longer part of the franchise. However, SRH retained captain Kane Williamson, youngsters Abdul Samad and Umran Malik.
The franchise has also spent heavily on talented Indian youngsters to strengthen their side. SRH dug deep in their purse to get Nicholas Pooran for Rs 10.75 crores. They also spent heavily to get the services of Washington Sundar (Rs 8.75 crore), Rahul Tripathi (Rs 8.5 crore), Romario Shepherd (Rs 7.75 crore), and Abhishek Sharma (Rs 6.5 crore).
So, with such talented and proven stars in their rank, what would be the possible XI for SunRisers Hyderabad?
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Openers
SRH got the service of solid stroke-making batter Rahul Tripathi in their team. In IPL 2021, Tripathi played a vital role to power Kolkata Knight Riders to the playoffs and then the final. The Indian cricketer will look to prove his mettle for the new franchise as well.
His partnership with captain Kane Williamson, who will be expected to play the sheet anchor’s role as he did in the previous seasons, will hold crucial to SRH. A solid start to the innings from the opening pair will make things easier for middle order batters.
Middle order
The SRH middle order will feature both power heavy batter like Pooran and fluent scorers like Aiden Makram and Samad.
Pooran will look to forget his last season’s dismal performance. This season, he will look to better his performance with solid innings down the SRH batting order.
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Markam, on the other hand, is the one who can keep the strike rotating while safeguarding his end.
Samad is the only Indian batter retained by SRH this season. His recent performance in domestic cricket has also been fantastic. Now he will be expected to justify the faith shown on him by the SRH team management.
All-rounders
SRH got excellent all-rounders in Washington Sundar and Romario Shepherd. The duo have different skill sets. They will be handy to SRH’s batting and bowling in the middle overs. Their long handles, especially in the death overs, could give SRH innings a new dimension.
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Bowlers
The pace attack will be sphearded by experienced India cricketer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. His recent form is also a good sign for SunRisers Hyderabad. He did quite well against Sri Lanka and West Indies in recent home series.
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It will be his responsibility to lead the pace attack which also has Umran Malik and T Natarajan. T Natarajan missed out the last season due to an injury. So it will be interesting to see how he performs for SRH this season. Malik is an emerging fast bowler with raw pace and variations. He is the one to watch out for this season. Shreyas Gopal, on the other hand, will play his first season for SRH after having a poor outing in IPL 2021.
Possible XI of SunRisers Hyderabad: Rahul Tripathi, Kane Williamson (captain), Aiden Makram, Nicholas Pooran (wicket-keeper), Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Shreyas Gopal.
