Sunrisers Hyderabad are the dark horses for IPL 13 under the leadership of David Warner.
The thirteenth edition of the IPL will hit the ground running from 19 September, Saturday in the UAE. The much-awaited season of the league will be conducted across three venues – Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah over 53 days. A total of 56 league stage matches will be followed by the four playoff games in November 2020.
As the countdown to the tournament opener gradually goes into single digits, the teams are preparing themselves to be at the top of their game. Among these teams, are the Sunrisers Hyderabad, who will be the happiest to play in bowling conditions that the UAE offers.
The Sunrisers have won just one title yet in 2016 under the leadership of the Australian opener David Warner. In 2020, he might be itching to go big once again and take them all the way.
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The pitches in the UAE are generally on the slower side and they aid spin as the pitches get older. IPL 2020 might see that happening as a total of 60 matches on 3 venues will be a lot to take for the pitches in play. With a spin squad of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Shahbaz Nadeem, and Abhishek Sharma, SRH will be well-placed to be among the frontrunners to win the IPL.
They have quite the bowlers in their arsenal to choke the batsmen on slow and turning tracks. Bowling has been the prime forte for SRH even in India and it will be boosted by the conditions available on the venues for IPL 13.
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DAVID WARNER
The pocket rocket from Australia, David Warner, has been a consistent cricketer in the IPL for a long time. He has taken the IPL by storm right since he played for the Delhi Daredevils, but his dependability for the Sunrisers is something that very few others could achieve.
Warner has scored 4,706 runs in 126 IPL innings at a staggering average of 43.17. In due course, he registered 4 centuries and a record 44 half-centuries. He has been the highest run-getter for SRH in each of the last four seasons that he played in and won the Orange Cap thrice. He was beaten in the race just once when Virat Kohli rocked IPL 2016 with most runs in a single season.
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The side will be expecting their skipper to play smart and aggressive in the UAE. His role in IPL 2020 will not be of the aggressor as he will also have to hold the innings together. He will have support from Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, and Wriddhiman Saha who can play well on slow pitches.
The left-hander might have to lead his team by example with the bat and then get the best out of his bowlers. If he manages to do these things right, there will be no stopping SRH from their second IPL title.
MANISH PANDEY
Manish Pandey has been under the shadows of his teammates far too long and he might well capitalize on this season to be a superstar with the bat. He grabbed eyeballs in 2009 when the IPL moved out of India for the first time and became the first Indian to score a century in the format. He then switched from RCB and was used as a finisher by KKR.
Despite playing at different positions over the years, he has not been able to make a particular batting position his own. In 120 IPL innings, Pandey has scored 2,843 runs at an average of 29.31 and a strike rate of 120.82. His unorthodox technique with the bat will suit him in UAE conditions and the 31-year-old can prove to be a handy batsman throughout the tournament.
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Pandey must bat at a particular position for the entirety of the season to get the best out of him. Slotting him at No. 3 and allowing him to play as many deliveries as possible might be the best bet for SRH. The fact that he has been brilliant in the shortest format for India will give him enough confidence to back his natural game.
SHAHBAZ NADEEM
Shahbaz Nadeem has tons of experience in domestic cricket and it’s time for him to reflect that in the IPL. The bowler with the best bowling figures in List A cricket moved to the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2019 but wasn’t given a lot of opportunities.
Nadeem might be a regular feature for the side in IPL 2020 with the conditions suiting spin. If he does, the duo of Rashid Khan and Shahbaz Nadeem might be the best not only in terms of economy but also in terms of wickets for the season.
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In 62 innings, he has picked only 42 wickets at an average of 37.38 runs per wicket. His economy rate in the T20 tournament is 7.48 and that might just improve in IPL 13.
However, the strips on offer in the United Arab Emirates won’t stop him from showing his mettle to the world. SRH would want the spinner from Jharkhand to be at his wily best to fox the batsmen from time to time.
RASHID KHAN
There are absolutely no doubts about who can be the X-factor for SRH in IPL 2020. Rashid Khan has to be the man for them if the Sunrisers are looking forward to a second title win. He has set the bar too high for himself with his performances in the shortest formats in the past few years.
The pitches in UAE will get the best out of him and these are worrying signs for batsmen in the IPL. Khan has managed to pick 55 wickets in 46 games in Indian conditions, where not all venues support the spin bowlers.
He has a bowling average of 21.69 and an economy of just 6.55. One can say he has mastered the act of keeping batsmen quiet and sending them back quickly too.
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The 21-year-old can also be handy with the bat but Rashid with the ball will be SRH’s primary weapon in IPL 13. His performance will be crucial for the Hyderabad-based franchise and can even lead to them being at the top of the points table at the end of the league stage.
ABDUL SAMAD
The 18-year-old Abdul Samad can be the ‘Emerging Player of the Season’ in IPL 2020 if used well. He has the ability to hit the ball very hard and has sown good results for the Jammu and Kashmir side in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy as well as the Ranji Trophy.
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As a player who has played on dusty pitches in the domestic circuit, he can be trusted to perform in the UAE. Samad averages 40 in T20 cricket so far and has a strike rate of 136.16.
Out of the 240 runs that he has scored in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, 156 have come in boundaries.
SRH can use this to their advantage and slot Samad into the finisher’s role for IPL 13. If ever he is needed with the ball, he can bowl good leg-breaks with unreadable googlies. He can also prove to be the X-factor for SRH in the upcoming IPL tournament and is certainly a player to watch out for if presented enough opportunities.