Why Sunrisers Hyderabad might be the team to beat in Indian Premier League 2019
Sunrisers Hyderabad have become quite a formidable side in the Indian Premier Leauge. Sunrisers Hyderabad won their first title in 2016 under the captaincy of David Warner and they have qualified for the playoffs ever since.
Last year, Sunrisers Hyderabad faced a setback when David Warner was not allowed to play in the IPL and they were forced to appoint Kane Williamson as the captain of the side. Till the 2017 IPL season, he did not have a permanent place in the playing XI because many thought that he is not the right player when it comes to the shortest format of the game. Kane Williamson slammed his critics by winning the Orange cap belting out a massive 735 runs in the season and leading his team to the final. They lost to Chennai Super Kings in the final of the tournament.
Sunrisers Hyderabad already had a balanced side ahead of the auctions so they only bought three players in the auction. In this year's auction, they bought Martin Guptill, Jonny Bairstow, and Wriddhiman Saha. Before the auction, they had traded Shikhar Dhawan to Delhi for Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar, and Abhishek Sharma.
With the return of David Warner at the top of the order, they have the perfect balance at the opening with Kane Williamson to compliment him. There are still concerns about David Warner for he recently picked up an injury at the Bangladesh Premier League. Even if David Warner is not available, they have the likes of Martin Guptill and Jonny Bairstow to replace him without compromising the strength of the batting line up.
In the middle order, they have the likes of Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, and Yusuf Pathan who can play according to the game situation. Their middle order has a lot of experience when it comes to dealing with tough situations in the field. Deepak Hooda and Vijay Shankar can finish the innings with his big hits.
No team in the IPL has come close to the bowling combination of Sunrisers Hyderabad. Last year teams were finding it difficult to even chase a modest target of 130 against them. In Rashid Khan, they probably have one of the best bowlers in this format. Rashid Khan is among one of those bowlers who can win the match for his team with his bowling.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Billy Stanlake, Siddarth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma provide the fire in the pace attack. Last season Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Siddharth Kaul were excellent with the ball at the death. Siddharth Kaul due to his performance in the IPL last year got the Indian call.
So, Sunrisers Hyderabad looks like a team which does not have a week point in their line up and their bench strength is also quite good. So they might be the team to beat this season.