Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) were one of the pre-tournament favourites of IPL 2021. But halfway into the league, they languish at the bottom of the table. Their bowling and middle-order has fared extremely poorly in the first 7 games. Former players SRH can target for IPL mega auctions. SRH need to tweak their side if with some key former players if they have to compete heading into the next season.
StumpsandBails looks at 5 former SRH players they must look to target in the auctions:
#5 Trent Boult
Trent Boult is a proven IPL performer. He has been especially potent for Mumbai Indians. Boult was exceptional for MI in 2020. He picked up wickets upfront and hurt opponents. Boult is a much improved T20 bowler too. Given the riches, MI have, it will be difficult for them to retain Boult. This provides an opportunity for SRH to bring back into the setup. It will bolster their bowling lineup that is currently over-dependent on Indian seamers.
#4 Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib Al Hasan is an underrated cricketer. He is quality with both bat and ball. Hasan was once SRH’s mainstay but with the addition of Jonny Bairstow and Kane Williamson, he was relegated to the sidelines. But SRH will do well to have a solid player like Hasan in the setup. He can anchor the middle-order and set the base for the lower middle-order to finish strongly. Hasan can be a valuable bowling link who can support Rashid Khan brilliantly.
#3 Hanuma Vihari
Hanuma Vihari is a grossly under-utilised T20 cricketer. Vihari has all the shots in the book to be a good T20 batsman. He is a fine player of spin and can target them aggressively in the middle overs. Vihari can be the missing link in the middle-order for SRH. The Hyderabad franchise have long struggled to have a consistent batsman who can shepherd the middle-order. Vihari might just be the right man to do that job for them.
#2 Deepak Hooda
SRH to their credit did groom Deepak Hooda for a couple of years. They finally let go of him in 2020. But Hooda since then has played quite a few sparking cameos for Punjab Kings. His off-spin has helped the Punjab franchise. Hooda can be the ideal finisher SRH are so dearly missing. He can have a breakthrough season with SRH next year if picked.
#1 Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan has been in roaring form of late for DC. He was the second-highest run-getter in IPL 2020. But DC will find it difficult to retain him as they have a core young trio of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and Prithvi Shaw at the helm. This gives SRH a golden opportunity to reinstate Dhawan back into their setup. If Dhawan takes over the opening role, SRH can then focus on bringing in a quality overseas middle-order batsman to fix their major gap.
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