Few teams in Indian Premier League history have managed to augment their playing style into a brand, let alone in the space of a season, like Sunrisers Hyderabad managed in 2024. Led by the tactically sharp Pat Cummins, the team adopted a no-holds-barred approach with the bat and decimated long-standing records with ridiculous ease. The result was a first finals appearance since 2018, and just the third in franchise history.
A significant reason behind the freedom with which SRH batted in 2024 was the nature of their home playing surface at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Small boundaries and flat decks made runs galores commonplace and culminated in an average first innings score of 205, the joint highest amongst the regular IPL venues. The average powerplay score of 65 in Hyderabad was also the second highest, only behind the Eden Gardens (68).
It is no surprise then that the team retained the three main proponents of their playing brand Abhishek Sharma (14 cr), Travis Head (14 cr), and Heinrich Klaasen (23 cr) – the Proteas thus becoming the highest paid retention in IPL history – as well as the main that instigated it all, Cummins (18 cr). Yet, perhaps the best deal the team pulled off was locking in Nitish Kumar Reddy for just INR 6 crores, given the youngster’s ability to provide big-hitting ability and bowling 130kph+ pace which have propelled his rise to the international stage since the end of last season. However, formulating a potent auction strategy requires an in-depth breakdown of their performance phase by phase, and how the team can recoup in Riyadh all that it has lost from last season.
Power Players Like Never Before
Last season, Sunrisers Hyderabad, with the bat, were as dominant as they come in the powerplay. Their strike rate of 177.43 in the first six overs – courtesy of 59 sixes in just 16 games – was not only the highest but also well clear of the league average of 149.30. Their effort of 125/0 in Delhi set a new benchmark in the IPL and eventually saw them become the first team to score 1,000 powerplay runs in a season.
Given that 64% of those deliveries were faced by the two openers, and a further eight percent by Nitish and Klaasen combined, SRH already have their powerplay batting bases covered. Even though it has come at the cost of Abhishek and Head cornering nearly a quarter of the INR 120 crore purse, their performances based on last season is well worth it.
Unfortunately, the team failed to find the same success with the new ball, conceding 57 runs in the first six overs (same as the league average) and scalping a wicket only every 24 balls – the fourth-worst record in the league.
An astounding 40 of their 96 powerplay overs were delivered by Bhuvneshwar Kumar alone, whose decade-long journey at SRH has again ended for the time being. SRH still have their second-most-used powerplay bowler in Cummins, even though the Aussie skipper conceded runs at 9.37 during this phase. T Natarajan was another new ball fixture and delivered 16 overs, just three less than his skipper despite playing two games less.
The franchise thus will undoubtedly be looking at household Indian names to fill that void, given they already have three fixed international starters. While Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj are bound to be the headline acts in the auction, the franchise would be better placed pursuing the likes of Prasidh Krishna and Akash Madhwal given their budgetary constraints.
A Contrast In the Middle
As we move on to the ensuing phases of the game, things get much bleaker for the 2016 champions, especially with the ball. SRH were only one of three teams to concede over 100 runs per innings between overs 6 and 16 through the season, their mark of 103 thwarting the league average by five runs. To make things worse, the silver spooners also had the worst strike rate (41.22) in the middle overs.
Even though Cummins did the heavy lifting with 29 overs, it was worth only 10.55% of the whole quota as four more bowlers delivered upwards of 20 overs. Nitish also contributed marginally with 11 overs to his name but just two wickets and an economy of 11.45 means he is far from a reliable option.
The absence of a frontline spinner went a long way in contributing to those numbers, an issue exacerbated by the unavailability of Wanindu Hasaranga. Should the Sri Lankan be fit this time around, he can still prove to be a prudent investment considering the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal and Adam Zampa are slated to earn big bucks. The team might also choose to use their sole remaining Right to Match on the uncapped Mayank Markande as a backup, while their Afghan legacy might pique some interest in the young Waqar Salamkheil.
Meanwhile, the batting during this phase was carried by the same protagonists as the powerplay. Overall, their retained batting quartet faced nearly 600 of the team’s 1018 balls and struck at 145.68, the fourth highest in the middle overs and at par with the league average. Their six count of 88 was also only second best to RCB with a maximum coming every 11.56 balls.
However, the team could still do with an anchor, a role Aiden Markram failed to impress in last season, should the others fail to sustain their numbers. The lack of RTMs for Kolkata Knight Riders might make the likes of Nitish Rana and Angkrish Raguvanshi viable options, while the return of Rahul Tripathi as a dependent scorer won’t be half bad either.
Dearth at the Death
It is in the final phase of the innings though where the Sunrisers struggled the most. The team’s strike rate read a solemn 167.47 in the last four overs which absurdly is even lower than their powerplay figure. The league average was a much higher 175.13 too, despite SRH having the fourth-best six-hitting rate of one every nine deliveries.
Klaasen’s 91 balls faced at the death surpassed all his teammates but the fact that Cummins also had to contend with 70 deliveries succinctly highlights the team’s shortcomings. In Nitish, they do have a flexible option, as was the case last season when he faced 30 balls at the death, and the presence of a middle-overs aggregator should enable the youngster to have a bigger presence in this phase of the game. However, should the team still feel the need for a dedicated finisher, Abdul Samad becomes the natural RTM option given he provides bowling too while Shahbaz Ahmed (faced the second most balls in the death for SRH last season) and Ashutosh Sharma can also expect bids to come their way from the SRH table.
Similarly, by losing Natarajan and Bhuvi, the team has lost over 30 of their nearly 65 death-overs in 2024. It isn’t a surprise though since the team conceded runs at 11.91 after over 16, with only Delhi Capitals having a worse record. Their strike rate of 18 balls was even worse, ranking them at the bottom and way off the league average of 12 deliveries.
Should the team manage to recruit the powerplay picks mentioned earlier, they’ll be covering two bases at once. However, if they still feel the need for a specialist death operator, enticing names such as Harshit Rana, Khaleel Ahmed, and Avesh Khan are available in the market but they’ll be nearly impossible to get given Hyderabad’s budget. The team might have to settle for a lesser acclaimed name such as Yash Thakur and could even consider bringing Mustafizur Rahman back to the setup.
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