 "SRH's Indian batters inability to fire consistently hurt the team in IPL 2023. The likes of Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek Sharma will be expected to do well in IPL 2024. Sportzpics")
A new season calls for fresh hopes. At least that’s as far as the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are concerned ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season. Under Aiden Markram, SRH endured a very disappointing campaign, arguably their worst ever. In IPL 2023, SRH finished rock-bottom with just four wins in 14 games (8 points).
And they meant business at the mini-auction in Dubai last year, acquiring World Cup-winning Australia captain Pat Cummins for a whopping Rs 20.50 crore. They also got the services of another World Cup winner in Travis Head (Rs 6.80 crore).
In personnel moves, SRH have traded Mayank Dagar to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), with Shahbaz Ahmed coming in.
SRH have a history of captain and coach changes. David Warner was the captain in 2021, with Kane Williamson taking over in 2022 and Aiden Markram a year later. As far as head coaches are concerned, SRH had Trevor Bayliss in 2021, Tom Moody in 2022 and Brian Lara in 2023. This year, SRH will have New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori as head coach with fellow Kiwi James Franklin as their pace bowling coach.
SRH haven’t made the IPL playoffs since 2020, and have also endured bottom-half finishes in the points table in each of the last three seasons. Will SRH be able to rediscover their lost touch?
Strengths
The addition of Cummins to the side, who will lead SRH, bolsters the team’s bowling lineup. Prior to his arrival, SRH already had a pace trio of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan and Umran Malik. Natarajan, however has been expensive at times, and Bhuvneshwar and Malik lacked a reliable third pacer who could give them adequate support.
And Cummins provides exactly that. Apart from Cummins, the purchase of Wanindu Hasaranga adds balance to the spin bowling department. Washington Sundar, Mayank Dagar and Mayank Markande were the only lead spinners for SRH, but getting the services of Sri Lanka’s Hasaranga was a bargain, with the franchise having acquired him for just Rs 1.50 crore.
Impact Shorts
View AllWeaknesses
Lack of quality and experienced Indian batters have been an issue for SRH in the past few seasons. Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi and Abdul Samad are some Indians who consistently feature for SRH but just don’t deliver enough with the bat. Each of these batters in fact failed to score in excess of 300 runs in IPL 2023, with Rahul Tripathi (273 runs) and Mayank Agarwal (270) coming close to the mark.
SRH also failed to click as a unit last season and their biggest signing of IPL 2023, Harry Brook, made just one notable knock of a century against KKR, so Hyderabad’s batters will be under pressure more than their bowlers.
Opportunities
Pat Cummins’ leadership abilities is a big plus for SRH going into the new IPL season. He’s showcased he can be the best captain, winning the World Test Championship (WTC) and the ODI World Cup titles recently, and it should not come as a surprise that the team management has kept faith in him as captain to lead SRH to title victory.
Afterall, the last, and the only time SRH lifted the IPL was under a captain, who was Australian (David Warner). So, who knows, maybe this might be the year of underdogs like SRH.
Threat
SRH must be vary of the injuries that they potentially face during IPL 2024. The likes of T Natarajan and Wanindu Hasaranga have a history of injuries and so does Washington Sundar. Having said that, Washington even missed half of IPL 2023 with a hamstring injury. He had taken just three wickets in seven matches, and SRH are such a team where there’s hardly a backup option often and an injury to even a single player affects the team’s ability to perform in unison.
It’s these factors like injuries that affects a team like SRH in having a settled core unit, and it will be paramount that the team management monitor the players’ workload and use them effectively throughout the season.
Player to watch out for
Travis Head — There will be a lot of expectations from Travis Head to perform well as far as SRH is concerned. And if there’s something that may hardly bother Travis Head as a “distraction”, it could be added pressure.
He showcased that in the ODI World Cup, when he returned from injury with a few superlative performances (Including a century against New Zealand and then India in final). Head will be expected to open the innings with either Mayank Agarwal or Abhishek Sharma. Irrespective of whom he opens with, one thing is for certain — Head will be raring to go and looking to make the most of it.
Season prediction
Hopes will be high from SRH fans this season but the same cannot be said about expectations. SRH have floundered in the last three seasons under three different captains, so it will be a bit early to predict where they will end up in IPL 2024. Reaching the playoffs is any team’s dream, and while SRH have a side that can do that, there might be section of fans and experts who might worry of a potential league stage exit.
SRH have to work as a team in order to live upto expectations, only then will they at least make the playoffs. Having said that, it will be important that the franchise don’t think too ahead as to where they end up this season.
Predicted playing XI
Mayank Agarwal, Travis Head, Rahul Tripathi, Heinrich Klaasen, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Pat Cummins (C), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan
Squad
Retained players: Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Anmolpreet Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Glenn Phillips, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Mayank Agarwal, Mayank Markande, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rahul Tripathi, Sanvir Singh, Shahbaz Ahamad (T), T. Natarajan, Umran Malik, Upendra Singh Yadav, Washington Sundar
Purchased at IPL 2024 Auction: Travis Head (Rs 6.80 crore), Wanindu Hasaranga (Rs 1.50 crore), Pat Cummins (Rs 20.50 crore), Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 1.60 crore), Akash Maharaj Singh (Rs 20 lakh), Jhatavedh Subramanyan (Rs 20 lakh)
SRH full squad: Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Anmolpreet Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Glenn Phillips, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Mayank Agarwal, Mayank Markande, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rahul Tripathi, Sanvir Singh, Shahbaz Ahamad (T), T. Natarajan, Umran Malik, Upendra Singh Yadav, Washington Sundar, Travis Head, Wanindu Hasaranga, Pat Cummins, Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Maharaj Singh, Jhatavedh Subramanyan
An avid sports follower, I have been working with Firstpost for the last four years. If not for sports, movies and music are my other interests.