IPL 2020: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) Squad Rating Card

With the highest rating in the openers category, let’s look at the overall squad rating of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for IPL 2020.

Debuted in 2013, Sunrisers Hyderabad have had moderate success in IPL so far. They failed to qualify playoffs twice, finished fourth on three occasions, runners-up on one occasion, and ended up winning the title once in 2016 when Sunrisers Hyderabad played under the captaincy of David Warner.

After having two separate captains in 2018 and 2019, Sunrisers Hyderabad are back to having their leader, their adopted boy, David Warner as their captain for IPL 2020. While Kane Williamson is a brilliant captain himself, it is David Warner’s aggressive captaincy that has defined the SRH team over the years.

The 2020 edition brings some interesting changes in the SRH squad. They released the least number of players before the Auction including the forced one, Shakib Al Hasan, and bought few exciting players such as Fabian Allen, Mitchell Marsh, Priyam Garg, Virat Singh, etc. 

So, as we analyse the squad, have Sunrisers Hyderabad adopted a multi-dimensional approach, and selected a squad that can excel in all the conditions and all pitches? Let’s look at our amazing article where we find the overall squad rating of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for IPL 2020 considering all the categories.

Please note:

• The squad rating for IPL 2020 is calculated for five primary categories viz., Openers, Middle-order, All-rounders, Spinners, and Pacers.
• The player roles are bracketed as Main players, Good backups, and other backups, and all are being rated on a scale of 10. However, for overall rating calculation, the weighted average is taken with higher weightage given to the main players. 
• The players are relatively rated for their primary category basis their last two IPL’s performance, and/or their current International/Domestic form.
• While a player can play an additional role as ”Backup’, all categories should have a unique set of main players. 

Before we begin, let’s look at the benchmark players in our 5 primary categories against which every other player is relatively rated. 

• Opener: David Warner (SRH)
• Middle-order: Virat Kohli (RCB)
• All-rounder(s): Hardik Pandya (MI) and Andre Russell (KKR)
• Spinner: Rashid Khan (SRH)
• Pacer: Jasprit Bumrah (MI)

Alright then, without wasting any time, let’s look at the squad rating for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for IPL 2020.

Openers – 8.65

Two Main Openers: David Warner and Jonny Bairstow

Good Backup Opener: Wriddhiman Saha

Other Backup Opener(s): Sreevats Goswami and Kane Williamson

Sunrisers Hyderabad retained 2019’s best openers, David Warner and Jonny Bairstow ahead of IPL 2020 Auction. The dynamic duo is expected to open in 2020 edition as well, and this should please the SRH fans. However, barring their key openers, the backups aren’t strong enough. 

While Warner and Bairstow have been one of the best openers in recent times- especially Warner, who has been 2020’s best T20 player, the backups, Wriddhiman Saha and Sreevats Goswami haven’t had success in T20 cricket since 2018 with Saha scoring around 200 runs in 16 innings, and Goswami scoring around 50 runs in 3 innings. 

So, if anything happens to Warner or Bairstow, SRH would have to fall back to any of these two or the make-shift opener, Kane Williamson. Nevertheless, in metrics, David Warner leads the team with a perfect rating of 10, followed by Bairstow at 9, Wriddhiman Saha at 7.5, and Sreevats Goswami at 7. 

Overall, SRH get a cumulative average rating of 8.65 in the openers category.

Middle-order – 8.23

Three Main Middle-order Players: Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, and Mohammad Nabi. 

Two Good Backup Middle-order Players: Vijay Shankar and Fabian Allen

Other Backup Middle-order Player(s): Mitchell Marsh, Priyam Garg, and Virat Singh. 

A problematic area for the Sunrisers Hyderabad because most of their good middle-order players are overseas, and only 1 of them can play in the playing 11 with other being Indians. So, Sunrisers Hyderabad may have Kane Williamson and Mohammed Nabi in their line-up, only one of them can make it to playing 11.

However, given the variety of options including the emerging Indian players, SRH can try multiple combinations in the middle-order. But, ideally, the team would play Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, and Priyam Garg or Virat Singh in the middle-order with backup from Mohammad Nabi, Fabian Allen, Vijay Shankar, and Mitchell Marsh.

In metrics, Kane Williamson is SRH’s best middle-order player with a rating of 9, followed by Manish Pandey at 8.75, Mohammed Nabi at 8, Vijay Shankar and Fabian Allen at 7.75, Mitchell Marsh at 7.5, and the emerging duo of Virat Singh and Priyam Garg at 6.75. 

Overall, SRH get a cumulative average rating of 8.23 in the middle-order category.

All-rounders – 8.08

Two Main All-rounders: Mohammad Nabi and Fabian Allen

Good Backup All-rounder: Vijay Shankar

Other Backup All-rounder(s): Mitchell Marsh and Abhishek Sharma 

Probably the weakest area for Sunrisers Hyderabad as none of their all-rounders stand-out in comparison to few striking openers from other teams. Their strongest openers are Fabian Allen and Mohammad Nabi, and to be honest, both of them are not sure-shot starters in the playing 11.

Their backup, Vijay Shankar is a confirmed starter, but isn’t the best out there. After doing good for the Indian team in the early 2019s, Vijay Shankar has had a horror run with the bat and ball including IPL 2019. The other backups, Mitchell Marsh and Abhishek Sharma are yet to make a name for themselves in T20 cricket.

So, in metrics, Mohammad Nabi gets a rating of 8.5, followed by Fabian Allen at 8, Vijay Shankar and Mitchell Marsh at 7.75, and Abhishek Sharma at 7.

Overall, SRH get a cumulative average rating of 8.08 in the all-rounders category.

Spinners – 8.23

Two Main Spinners: Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi

Good Backup Spinner: Fabian Allen

Other Backup Spinner(s): Shahbaz Nadeem and Abhishek Sharma 

Another grey area for the Sunrisers, but the presence of impeccable, Rashid Khan doesn’t make it feel so. The Afghani wizard is currently the best spinner in the world in the shortest format of the game, and has done well in all the editions of the IPL so far.

Supporting Rashid would be Shahbaz Nadeem, Fabian Allen, or Abhishek Sharma with the latter two giving you a good batting option. There’s Mohammad Nabi, who can act as a good Powerplay spinner, but he may not get all the games owing to overseas players restrictions.

In metrics, Rashid Khan leads the pack with a perfect rating of 10, followed by Mohammad Nabi at 8.25. In backups, Fabian Allen at 7.5, Shahbaz Nadeem at 7.25, and Abhishek Sharma at 6.75.

Overall, SRH get a cumulative average rating of 8.23 in the spinners category.

Pacers – 8.25

Two Main Pacers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed

Good Backup Pacer: Sandeep Sharma

Other Backup Pacer(s): Siddharth Kaul, Billy Stanlake, T Natarajan, Vijay Shankar, and Basil Thampi

Sunrisers Hyderabad have pacers in abundance with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed leading the charge. Khaleel Ahmed was sensational in IPL 2019 having picked 19 wickets in just 9 games, but had a poor outing in the International arena since then. Bhuvi, on the other hand, may not have had a good IPL, but is still a force to reckon.

The backup pacers are pretty good for SRH with Sandeep Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Billy Stanlake, T Natarajan, Vijay Shankar, and Basil Thampi in the armory. Of all the pacers, B Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, and Sandeep Sharma look sure shot starters.

So, in metrics, Bhuvneshwar leads the charge with a rating of 8.75, followed by Khaleel Ahmed and Sandeep Sharma at 8.25. In Backups, Siddharth Kaul and Billy Stanlake at 7.75,  Mitchell Marsh and T Natarajan at 7.25, Vijay Shankar and Basil Thampi at 7.

Overall, SRH get a cumulative average rating of 8.25 in the pacers category.

Conclusion: 

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) get an overall squad rating of 8.28 for IPL 2020. Given their squad and David Warner back at the helm, expect SRH to finish in the playoffs at the least. But, anything beyond that would need consistent performances from their key match-winners. 

Thanks for reading! What is your view on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) squad rating for IPL 2020? Please, share your thoughts on business@cricalytics.com

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