IPL 2017 : Sunrisers Hyderabad – The underrated stars making their mark :- The defending champions of IPL go into the tournament again as favorites to retain their crown. Sunrisers banked on David Warner”s gargantuan consistency, coupled with Mustafizur”s lethality to do what many thought was improbable.
As they take the field again to replicate the heroics of 2016, the men in orange have everything to play for. The title defense of Sunrisers Hyderabad starts at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on 5 April against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Being a side that hasn”t done a lot of chopping and changing, Sunrisers have got their core sturdy. Having released two of their foreign players Eoin Morgan and Trent Boult, Sunrisers is the first team in the history of this cash-rich league to rope in players from Afghanistan.
All rounder Mohammad Nabi and rookie leggie Rashid Khan have been snapped up by the Orange Army, both of them have been in sensational form off late. The foreign roster of Sunrisers also includes Chris Jordan and Ben Laughlin, both of them will be back-up for “The Fizz”.
Young gun Mohammad Siraj has acquired an IPL call up on the back of some spiffing performances in domestic season for Hyderabad. Ekalavya Dwivedi and Tanmay Agarwal also find themselves in scheme of things while “youngsters” as you would call him, Pravin Tambe is another addition to the side.
Players bought at the auction: Rashid Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Eklavya Dwivedi, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Nabi, Ben Laughlin, Pravin Tambe and Tanmay Agarwal
Squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, David Warner (C), Moises Henriques, Naman Ojha (wk), Ricky Bhui, Kane Williamson, Siddarth Kaul, Bipul Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh, Ben Cutting, Abhimanyu Mithun, Mustafizur Rahman, Barinder Sran, Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, Tanmay Agarwal, Mohammad Nabi, Ekalavya Dwivedi, Rashid Khan, Pravin Tambe, Chris Jordan, Ben Laughlin, and Mohammed Siraj.
Strengths – A destructive opening pair who can tear apart any batting line up. A very potent bowling attack who can perform well in all conditions.
Weakness – Except Dhawan and Yuvi there is no other experienced Indian batsman. Also, Mustafizur not playing much cricket after his injury could be a worry
X-Factor – Mustafizur”s death bowling skills coupled with Yuvraj”s prowess with the bat.
Probable XI – David Warner (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Mohammad Nabi, Naman Ojha, Bipul Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Mustafizur Rahaman
With Morgan no more part of SRH, they have got one overseas slot vacant. Juggernaut David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan form a destructive duo at the top. Last time around SRH were successful with Henriques batting at 3 and are unlikely to change that. To replace Morgan, they have 2-3 options namely Williamson, Nabi and Cutting. Considering the fact that Nabi is lower order hitter and he can sneak in some cheap overs of off spin, Nabi fits the best. The spin bowling attack of Hooda and Bipul Sharma as well as pace trio of Nehraji, Fizz and Bhuvi is likely to remain unaltered.
Fixtures:
Wednesday 5th April 2017 Match 1 8:00 PM IST
Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore at
Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
Sunday 9th April 2017 Match 6 4:00pm
Sunrisers Hyderabad VS Gujarat Lions at Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
Wednesday 12th April 2017 Match 10 8:00pm IST
Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Saturday 15th April 2017 Match 14 4:00pm IST
Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Monday 17th April 2017 Match 19 8:00pm IST
Sunrisers Hyderabad Vs Kings XI Punjab at Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
Wednesday 19th April 2017 Match 21 8:00pm
Sunrisers Hyderabad VS
Delhi Daredevils at
Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
Saturday 22nd April 2017
Match 24 4:00pm IST
Rising Pune Supergiant Vs
Sunrisers Hyderabad at
Maharashtra Cricket Association”s International Stadium, Pune
Tuesday 25th April 2017
Match 29 8:00pm IST (2:30pm GMT)
Royal Challengers Bangalore Vs
Sunrisers Hyderabad at
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Friday 28th April 2017
Match 33 8:00pm IST
Kings XI Punjab vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
Sunday 30th April 2017
Match 37 8:00pm IST (2:30pm GMT)
Sunrisers Hyderabad vs
Kolkata Knight Riders at
Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
Tuesday 2nd May 2017
Match 40 8:00pm IST (2:30pm GMT)
Delhi Daredevils vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi
Saturday 6th May 2017
Match 44 4:00pm IST (10:30am GMT)
Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rising Pune Supergiant at
Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
Monday 8th May 2017
Match 48 8:00pm IST (2:30pm GMT)
Sunrisers Hyderabad vs
Mumbai Indians at
Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
Saturday 13th May 2017
Match 53 4:00pm IST (10:30am GMT)
Gujarat Lions vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at Green Park, Kanpur
– by Atharva Apte