IPL 2019: 3 strongest teams on paper

The IPL 2019 auction was conducted on the 18th of December. The event provided an opportunity for teams to consolidate their squads from last year and rectify their mistakes, and also to include new and talented Indian domestic players.

In the earlier years, there was a vast gulf between the strongest and the weakest teams in the IPL. However, things have changed, and all the squads are equally balanced now.

In this article, we will take a look at the three most formidable teams on paper in the 2019 edition of the IPL.

#3 Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Sunrisers Hyderabad have established themselves in the past few seasons as one of the most formidable teams in the IPL. They retained their core base of players before the auction, with the surprise exception of Shikhar Dhawan who they traded with the Delhi Capitals for Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem, and Abhishek Sharma.

SRH's top-order consists of Kane Williamson and the returning David Warner who are their batting mainstays, capable of single-handedly destroying the opposition pacers.

The presence of Manish Pandey, Shakib-al-Hasan, Yusuf Pathan and Deepak Hooda in their middle-order would help prevent a batting collapse. All these players have the capability of capitalizing on good starts from their openers and putting up a good score at the end of the innings.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad have arguably the best bowling the attack among the eight teams. Their pace attack consists of Billy Stanlake, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed and Siddarth Kaul, who have been proven performers for them in the last couple of seasons. Their main spinner Rashid Khan has emerged as the most threatening bowler in the IPL and a key partnership breaker in the middle overs.

Based on their roster, it is quite clear that the Sunrisers Hyderabad are one of the firm favorites to win the prestigious trophy in 2019.