IPL 2022, Sunrisers Hyderabad squad, fixtures and more: Focus on Pooran as SRH eye a fresh start

After a forgettable Indian Premier League 2021 campaign, the Sunrisers Hyderabad have an opportunity to make a fresh start. Some of their established veterans are gone and that means the squad has a pretty new look to it.

The coaching staff is now full of big names. Head coach Tom Moody and spin bowling coach Muttiah Muralitharan will now be supported by Brian Lara (batting coach), Dale Steyn (fast bowling coach), Simon Katich (assistant coach) and Hemang Badani (fielding coach).

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And at the IPL 2022 mega auction, they showed plenty of intent. Nicholas Pooran was eventually the most expensive buy from SRH at Rs 10.75 crore, with Washington Sundar (Rs 8.75 crore), Rahul Tripathi (Rs 8.5 crore), Romario Shepherd (Rs 7.75 crore) and Abhishek Sharma (Rs 6.5 crore) next on the list.

But will the unit get them the desired results?

History at the tournament

Squad

The only player who will miss a few games for SRH is Australian fast bowler Sean Abbott. And that is always good for the team management from the planning perspective. Key for them will be managing the fitness of Kane Williamson and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. T Natarajan also is coming back after long layoffs due to injuries. Keep them fit and SRH will stay competitive.

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, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Most Valuable Player

Nicolas Pooran. He can really light it up if he gets going and that is what SRH will need against the big teams. Williamson will bring consistency but Pooran can elevate the team to another level. He is coming off a pretty poor IPL 2021 though but that is history. The left-hander, when in form, scores quickly and gets the big hits effortlessly. He showed what he is capable of with a hat-trick of T20I half-centuries against India in February this year.

Uncapped Indian to watch out for

Umran Malik. It was exciting to see him give the speed gun a workout last season but this season should be all about showing how much he has learned since then. You can’t just run in and bowl fast all the time. Without variations, he won’t get far.

Quotes corner

Tom Moody, in an interview to Sportstar: “The middle-order over the last couple of years has been vulnerable. We were full of experience, both internationally and domestically, at the top of the order but we lacked that sort of depth down the order. Abdul Samad is another season wiser and more experienced and we also got to understand that batting at five, six and seven is the hardest in T20 cricket. Most people can bat at the top and express themselves with the field restrictions in the PowerPlay, but batting at five, six and seven is tough and it takes time to learn the art of batting. Abdul will continue to work to grow in that role because he’s one of the few cricketers domestically that can just hit the ball out of the ground, both off the front and back foot. And to complement him, we’ve recruited the likes of Pooran. So, we feel we’ve got a slightly better-balanced side that gives us the opportunity to bat a bit deeper.”

Fixtures

Teams to play twice: KKR, CSK, RCB, PBKS, GT
Teams to play once: MI, RR, DC, LSG