Sunrisers Hyderabad are gunning for their 2nd IPL title. They are one of the few teams that possess a balanced squad. SRH boasts of an all condition team. Their only weakness is their lack of explosive power hitters down the order. We look at the gems and duds of SRH this season.
StumpsandBails brings to you whom we believe will be the Studs and Duds of SRH in IPL 2021:
Studs:
#3 Jonny Bairstow
Jonny Bairstow is coming off a tremendous run of form in the limited-overs against India. He was awarded the Man of the Series in the ODI’s against India. Bairstow struggled to find a spot in the SRH lineup last year. He is a sure starter this season. Expect Bairstow to fire in all cylinders this year. He can be one of the contenders for the orange cap too.
#2 Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan is arguably the world’s best T20 spinner. He keeps outfoxing and outsmarting batsmen with every passing year. Khan is the lynchpin of SRH’s bowling attack. He is crucial to SRH’s chances. Khan is a sure-shot contender for the purple cap this year. On his day he is unplayable.
#1 Abdul Samad
Abdul Samad has smacked sixes for fun in his short IPL courier. He has taken on the likes of Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah, and Anrich Nortje and deposited them on the stands. Samad is that big-hitter whom SRH have been searching for years now. This probably might be Samad’s season.
Duds:
#3 Kedar Jadhav
SRH picked Kedar Jadhav at his base price in IPL 2021 auctions. He was picked in mind keeping SRH’s fragile middle-order. Jadhav’s experience was supposed to come in handy. But there is a slim chance of Jadhav making the playing XI forget him making an impact. The likes of Vijay Shankar and Manish Pandey have done decently for SRH. Hence the call of picking Jadhav at this stage seems remote.
#2 Sandeep Sharma
Sandeep Sharma is a quintessential swing bowler. He relies heavily on swing to trouble the batsmen. As KKR batsmen countered his bowling once they realised there was no swing on offer, he becomes less potent. Teams might target Sharma going ahead in the competition even more.
#1 Shahbaz Nadeem
Shahbaz Nadeem has been a domestic workhorse. He had a pretty decent IPL 2020. But he may find the goings difficult this year. Teams are particularly attacking spinners who aren’t big turners of the ball. Nadeem may find it tough to counter the opposition charge. This might probably be his last IPL season.
