SWOT analysis of SRH squad after IPL 2022 Auction

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) finished the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 auction having bought 20 players.

They used up ₹89.90 crore from their purse of ₹90 crore.

With their three retentions, they now have a squad of 23 players going into IPL 2022.

SRH had a difficult task coming into the auction, having had to let go of David Warner and Rashid Khan -- their two most influential players from the previous squad.

While the team management had a falling out with Warner, Rashid asked to be let go so he could go into the auction. However, the Afghan spinner ended up agreeing to join Gujarat Titans as one of their pre-auction drafts.

SRH retained Kane Williamson, who took over the captaincy of the team midway through IPL 2021, and the uncapped duo of Abdul Samad and Umran Malik.

Nicholas Pooran, at ₹10.75 crore, was their most expensive buy at the IPL 2022 auction. Washington Sundar (₹8.75 crore) and Rahul Tripathi (₹8.50 crore) were some of their other big investments.

How SRH squad looks after IPL 2022 auction

Here is the full squad: Kane Williamson, Nicholas Pooran, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tripathi, Romario Shepherd, Abhishek Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Marco Jansen, T Natarajan, Abdul Samad, Kartik Tyagi, Umran Malik, Aiden Markram, Sean Abbott, Glenn Phillips, Shreyas Gopal, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Priyam Garg, J Suchith, Shashank Singh, R Samarth, Saurabh Dubey and Vishnu Vinod

Here is a SWOT analysis of SunRisers Hyderabad squad after the IPL 2020 auction.

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Strengths: The pace attack

SunRisers Hyderabad have built a good pace attack with a variety of experience and youth.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a good new ball bowler, while T Natarajan will be their death overs specialist.

They got Sean Abbott and Marco Jansen among their overseas signings, while all-rounder Romario Shepherd will be another pace option.

Apart from them, they have the young duo of Umran Malik and Kartik Tyagi, who can both crank it up and cross the 140 kmph mark on a regular basis.

One concern is Bhuvneshwar Kumar's waning form, but if he can regain his mojo for the season, they have a good pace attack to work with.

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Weakness: The spin department

Replacing a player like Rashid Khan, the top-rated T20 bowler in the world, was always going to be difficult. But SRH completely failed to get any proven wicket-taking spinner in his place.

Washington Sundar is a handy off-spinner, who can even bowl in the Powerplay, but is not a prolific wicket-taker.

Shreyas Gopal is likely to be their lead leg-spinner, and he has not yet really made his mark in the IPL yet.

Going through the middle overs will be a challenge for the team with their bowling attack.

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Opportunity: Youngsters to step up

SRH largely have a very young squad. Washington Sundar, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Umran Malik and Priyam Garg form the young core. If groomed correctly, they can form a great core going forward.

Even Marco Jansen, the South African pacer, is a youngster with a bright future.

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Threat: The batting

Having lost David Warner, Jonny Bairstow and Manish Pandey, SRH had a difficult job filling up their batting lineup.

Kane Williamson is the rock they will build their batting around. The addition of Tripathi will also solidify their top order.

They spent heavily on Nicholas Pooran, but his form has been rocky of late, and apart from that, their lineup is rather inexperienced.

They have banked on Abhishek Sharma and Priyam Garg, both of who are youngsters.

While all three have shown promise, their lack of experience can prove to be challenging over the course of the season.

There will be a lot of pressure on Williamson, Pooran and Tripathi to do the heavy lifting for them.

They also have Aiden Markram and Glenn Phillips, but SRH will have to see how to fit them in the playing XI.