IPL 2019: Can SRH cope with the loss of key players due to international duties at the end of the season?
Both last year and this year, the Sunrisers Hyderabad have had one eerily similar storyline. Last year they lost out on the services of one of their biggest stars due to the ball tampering scandal. This year, they've again lost out on the services of one of their biggest stars just before the tournament, due to an injury.
If it was David Warner last year then this year it is Kane Williamson. Although the extent of the injury is still not clear, most people expect Williamson to miss out on a few matches at least at the start of the tournament.
Runner-ups in 2018 and winners in 2016, the Sunrisers look like a side that has the capability of winning the tournament this time around as well. They would, however, need to cope with the loss of some key players due to the World Cup coming close.
Here's a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the team ahead of IPL 2019:
Strengths
While many teams would pride themselves on their batting, SRH pride themselves on their all-round capability. They've got the team for all conditions and have a pretty strong bowling unit, which more often than not is able to defend whatever total is put in front of it.
A team comprising of Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Rashid Khan, Manish Pandey and Khaleel Ahmed has a good core international group which ticks all the departments.
Weaknesses
There aren't that many weakness in the team, but it would be crucial to see how Sunrisers cope with the loss of some of their key players to international duties. It's highly likely that they could lose Warner, Bairstow and Rashid among others during the deep end of the tournament, which could see their performance falter when it matters the most.
Key players
Words like "redemption" and "second chance" would be thrown around a lot whenever Warner is in the thick of action this year. What needs to be seen is how he deals with the pressure that is inevitably going to come along with that.
Along with Warner, all the frontline bowlers - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Billy Stanlake and in particular Rashid Khan - will also be crucial to SRH's fortunes this year.
Squad
Abhishek Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Jonny Bairstow, Basil Thampi, Ricky Bhui, Shreevats Goswami, Martin Guptill, Deepak Hooda, Siddarth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Nabi, Shahbaz Nadeem, T Natarajan, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Rashid Khan, Wriddhiman Saha, Sandeep Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Shakib Al Hasan, Billy Stanlake, David Warner, Kane Williamson
Prediction
Sunrisers should be able to make the playoffs, but what needs to be seen is how they cope with the loss of players to international duty. They would ideally be among the top teams at the start of the tournament but it's possible that they'll run out of steam by the end of it.
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