Sunrisers Hyderabad have been the most consistent franchise in the IPL over the last three years, finishing in the top three each time, and possess arguably the best bowling attack in the competition.
In 2013, Sunrisers became a part of the Indian Premier League, when they replaced Deccan Chargers, whose franchise contract was terminated. Since then, Sunrisers have played two finals and won one. In fact, they reached the playoffs in the very first tournament they played.
Let's have a look at the SRH squad which will be strengthened by the return of David Warner and some interesting purchases at this season’s auction and evaluate their chances in IPL 2019.
Squad:
Martin Guptill, David Warner, Ricky Bhui, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha, Shreevats Goswami, Deepak Hooda, Mohammad Nabi, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Abhishek Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Siddharth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Basil Thampi, Billy Stanlake, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem
Support Staff:
Coach: Tom Moody
Mentor: V.V.S.Laxman
Assistant coach: Simon Helmot
Bowling coach: Muthiah Muralitharan
Physiotherapist: Theo Kapkoulakis
Strengths:
The big positive for Sunrisers is that they have a very solid Indian bowling core in the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddharth Kaul, Shahbaz Nadeem and Sandeep Sharma.
Even if their core of Indian batsmen isn't as formidable as the bowlers, in Vijay Shankar, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda and Yusuf Pathan, they have match-winners in their own right.
Sunrisers have one of the most complete squads in this year's campaign and have shown that a good bowling attack can win you the competition.
And the return of David Warner will be one of the biggest advantages for the team.
Historically, a settled core has proved to be successful in IPL, and Sunrisers will bank on that yet again.
Question marks:
SRH will lose many players from their starting XI in the second half of the tournament due to World Cup commitments.
Bangladesh and Afghanistan are likely to recall their players by the start of May.
The list of players they may lose midway includes David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, who have all done a great job for the franchise in previous editions.
Prediction:
Sunrisers Hyderabad are a strong contender for the title and it all depends on the kind of momentum they get early in the tournament. They have all bases covered and are almost certain to make it to the final.
Best XI:
David Warner (F), Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson (F), Shakib Al Hasan (F), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Yusuf Pathan, Rashid Khan (F), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed
Sunrisers Hyderabad fixtures:
March 24 - KKR vs SRH (4 PM)
March 29 - SRH vs RR (8 PM)
March 31 - SRH vs RCB (4 PM)
April 4 - DC vs SRH (8 PM)
History:
2013: 4th
2014: 6th
2015: 6th
2016: 1st
2017: 3rd
2018: 2nd