The Sunrisers Hyderabad, who won the Indian Premier League in 2016, will be eyeing a second trophy in 2022 under Kane Williamson’s captaincy. Let’s look at the full squad of the Sunrisers and pick the best possible playing XI for the tournament’s 15th edition.
Full squad
Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, Umran Malik, Washington Sundar, Nicholas Pooran, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Priyam Garg, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Karik Tyagi, Shreyas Gopal, Jagadeesha Suchith, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Romario Shepherd, Sean Abbott, R Samarth, Saurabh Dubey, Shashank Singh, Vishnu Vinod, Glenn Philips and Fazalhaq Farooqi
Openers: Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma
The Sunrisers Hyderabad have quite a few options for their opener’s slot. They have Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, and Kane Williamson in the squad, all four of whom can open. But in all likelihood, the think tank will go with the young Abhishek Sharma alongside captain Williamson. The attacking batsman opens the innings for Punjab in domestic cricket as well. Tripathi is also an opener in domestic cricket, but he can be slotted in the middle order as well.
As for Williamson, little needs to be told of him. He will be one of the most experienced players in the squad and also among the most dependable batsmen. Williamson brings with him years of international experience which will be important to the Sunrisers.
Middle-order: Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran and Abdul Samad
The four names that we are likely to see in the Sunrisers middle order are Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran and Abdul Samad. Tripathi, as we have seen in the past, is quite flexible with his batting position. He can open, bat in the middle order or even down the order. The batsman from Maharashtra produced a few match-winning knocks for his former franchise KKR and will now be looking to do the same in a new jersey.
Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran, meanwhile, are attacking overseas batsmen of whom quickfire knocks will be expected. Pooran has been a part of several T20 leagues around the world and boasts of a strike rate of more than 142. Most recently, the southpaw hit three successive half centuries in the T20I series against India. Markram, meanwhile, has a strike rate of 147 in his T20 international career and can be a brutal hitter on his day.
Abdul Samad, meanwhile, may not bring a lot of experience to the table, but he has shown several glimpses of his power hitting in the past. The young batsman from Jammu and Kashmir can light up the innings if he gets going and is also an able finisher.
All-rounders: Romario Shepherd and Washington Sundar
West Indies’ Romario Shepherd has emerged as a fine all-rounder in the game’s shortest format. He has 55 wickets in 47 T20s and a batting strike rate of almost 160. Shepherd is a fearless hitter of the ball who can rapidly increase the team’s scoring rate.
Sundar, on the other hand, has already established himself both in the IPL and international cricket. He can pick wickets with his offspin bowling while also chipping in with runs down the order.
Bowlers: Umran malik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan
Sunrisers Hyderabad have quite a few quality pacers in their ranks – Umran Malik, Kartik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan. While Kumar and Natarajan are obvious picks in the playing XI, it remains to be seen who gets the nod between the uncapped Tyagi and Malik. But it is safe to assume that Malik will be preferred because of his express pace.
Image credit: IPL
