IPL 2023 Auction: SWOT Analysis of Sunrisers Hyderabad squad
Sunrisers Hyderabad had the biggest purse going into the IPL 2023 auction. Having released the likes of Kane Williamson and Nicholas Pooran, the team was on the hunt for new players who could change their fortunes for the upcoming IPL season.
If he does his thing with the bat, the bowlers just need to keep an eye on the ball.
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Their first big buy in the auction was the young English batsman Harry Brook. Brook has had an impressive start to his international career and his aggressive batting skills could see him play the role of a finisher in IPL 2023.
The team has also acquired Mayank Agarwal, who could lead the team in IPL 2023. Mayank is an experienced player, having played a lot of domestic cricket, and his experience could be handy in rebuilding the SRH team.
SRH's Top 6 in IPL 2023 so far:
- Abhishek Sharma.
- Mayank Agarwal.
- Rahul Tripathi.
- Harry Brook.
- Aiden Markram.
- Glenn Philips.
The franchise also had some intelligent picks like Heinrich Klaasen, Adil Rashid, Akeal Hosein, and Mayank Markande in the mini-auction. The team has got almost all the boxes ticked for the upcoming IPL season.
SRH acquired the following players at the IPL 2023 auction:
Harry Brook (INR 13.25 crore), Mayank Agarwal (INR 8.25 crore), Heinrich Klaasen (INR 5.25 crore), Adil Rashid (INR 2 crore), Mayank Markande (INR 50 lakh), Vivrant Sharma (INR 2.6 crore), Samarth Vyas (INR 20 lakh), Sanvir Singh (INR 20 lakh), Upendra Yadav (INR 25 lakh), Mayank Dagar (INR 1.8 crore), Nitish Kumar Reddy (INR 20 lakh), Akeal Hosein (INR 1 crore), Anmolpreet Singh (INR 20 lakh).
Here is a look at the full updated squad for SRH for IPL 2023:
Abdul Samad, Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Abhishek Sharma, Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kartik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan, Umran Malik, Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Heinrich Klaasen, Adil Rashid, Mayank Markande, Vivrant Sharma, Samarth Vyas, Sanvir Singh, Upendra Yadav, Mayank Dagar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akeal Hosein, Anmolpreet Singh.
Let's get into a detailed SWOT analysis of this SRH squad for IPL 2023 and discuss the team's prospects going into the new season:
Strength: Presence of Indian players who have performed well in IPL in the past and overseas players who have done well in T20Is
The SRH squad is well-balanced going into IPL 2023. The addition of Mayank Agarwal provides stability at the top of the order. Agarwal has played 113 IPL games to date and his experience will be valuable at the top of the order. Rahul Tripathi had a breakthrough season last IPL having scored 413 runs at an average of 37.55 and a strike rate of 158.24.
Harry Brook is another young exciting player whose addition to the squad provides an extra option for SRH.
The likes of Aiden Markram, Glenn Phillips, and Heinrich Klaasen provide experience in the middle order. Out of the three mentioned players, two will in all likelihood feature in the playing 11.
Aiden Markram is a handy batsman and also has a strike rate of 147.73 in T20Is. Phillips has an astounding strike rate of 148.15 and has scored two centuries in 49 T20I innings. Klaasen also has an impressive strike rate of 146.79 in T20Is. All three players are capable of changing the course of a match in a quick span of an over or two, making an exciting middle-order.
The team also has all-rounders and bowlers who have experience playing T20 cricket at the international level. Washington Sundar has the making of an all-rounder and has played well in the limited opportunities he has got to represent India.
Umran Malik was at his absolute best in IPL 2022 and picked up 22 wickets at an average of 20.18. He can unsettle batsmen with his raw pace and is an asset to have on the team. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is an experienced campaigner and will spearhead the bowling. He has picked up 154 IPL wickets at an average of 25.79. T. Natarajan also has performed well in IPL in the past.
The team has a mix of players who have performed well in IPL and/or T20Is and will look to replicate the performances for SRH in IPL 2023.
Weakness: Inexperienced Indian batsmen in the squad
Apart from Mayank Agarwal and Rahul Tripathi, the team does not have any experienced Indian batsman in the top order.
Though Abhishek Sharma had a decent IPL season in 2022, it could be difficult to say if the youngster could have the same impact he had in the previous IPL season. In 34 IPL innings, he averages 23.82 and still is work in progress as far as opening the batting is concerned.
In 20 IPL innings, Abdul Samad averages just 14.12 with the bat and cannot be relied on to score big in crunch situations.
Anmolpreet Singh has an ordinary record in domestic cricket and averages 21.73 and has a strike rate of 114.04.
SRH lacks a couple of experienced Indian batsmen who could guide the team in the middle-overs in case there is a top order collapse.
Opportunity: Indian players to regain lost confidence and make a case for selection once again in the national team
IPL 2023 provides the perfect opportunity for Mayank Agarwal to regain his lost confidence and start scoring runs at top of the order. He could be named the skipper of the team and he will look to use this opportunity to make a comeback to the national squad.
IPL 2023 also provides an opportunity for Umram Malik and Washington Sundar to put in a few impressive performances and strengthen their case to be selected for the Indian T20I team.
T. Natarajan has been sidelined from the national team due to injuries and will look at IPL 2023 to make a comeback to the Indian T20I team and be a permanent member of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Threat: Lack of experienced backup players in case of injuries to first-choice players
In case of any injury to Mayank Agarwal and/or Rahul Tripathi, the team lacks a solid backup of experienced Indian players. Apart from Abhishek Sharma, the likes of Anmolpreet Singh, Nitish Reddy, Upendra Yadav, Abdul Samad, Mayank Dagar, Vivrant Sharma, Sanvir Singh and Samrath Vyas have hardly played, or have not played IPL cricket to date.
The team will then be overdependent on the overseas players in Phillips, Klaasen, Brook, and Markram to do the bulk of the scoring. If the said four overseas players are a part of the playing 11, the team will not have the option to play Adil Rasid or Akeal Hosein in the team, and the team combination could be affected.
SRH have a strong first-choice 11, having a good mix of experienced and young players. However, if the first-choice players are injured or unavailable, the team combination could be affected and hamper SRH's chances in IPL 2023.