IPL 2019: 3 areas SRH need to strengthen during the auction
Sunrisers are one of the successful teams in the Indian Premier League for the past few seasons. Led by David Warner, Sunrisers Hyderabad lifted the title in 2016 and finished runners-up in 2018 under Williamson's leadership. They have easily the best bowling unit in IPL with the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Billy Stanlake, Shakib Al Hasan, and many other talented bowlers.
Even without their star batsman and captain, David Warner, Sunrisers finished on top in the group stage and even reached the final last season. Kane Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan did the bulk of the scoring and their bowlers were economical as usual. However, Manish Pandey’s failure has exposed them and Yousuf Pathan too was hugely inconsistent.
Coming into the new season, Sunrisers Hyderabad already lost Shikhar Dhawan to Delhi Daredevils. They will have to sign a replacement before the trade window closes or in the auction. They also have to reinforce their squad for the 2019 campaign.
On that note, let’s take a look at the 3 areas SRH need to address during the 2019 IPL auction.
#3 Lack of a game changer in the middle order
One of the biggest areas of concern for Sunrisers Hyderabad last season was a lack of an impact player in the middle order. Despite brilliant batting by Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson, Sunrisers Hyderabad failed to win games last season because of a fragile middle-order.
Though they had Yusuf Pathan, Manish Pandey, and Shakib Al Hasan, none of them managed to score runs on a consistent basis. Pathan scored only 260 runs while Manish Pandey scored only 284. Shakib too scored only 239 runs. Between them, they have managed to score only three fifties in the entire tournament.
Sunrisers Hyderabad certainly needs a player of Shimron Hetmyer’s calibre. They need to maintain the momentum built by their top order batsman, which they have failed to do last season. Hetmyer was brilliant in the 2018 Carribean Premier League and also for West Indies in the ongoing series against India.