3 concerns for SRH heading into the IPL 2023 auction

With the biggest purse of all 10 franchises, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have the ability to make a splash at the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.

SRH released 12 players ahead of the auction, freeing up a significant amount of funds to strengthen their squad. Understandably, there are various areas the Orange Army need to reinforce, although they have a strong core comprising talented players.

Here are three concerns for SRH heading into the IPL 2023 auction.

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#3 SRH desperately need some wrist-spin talent

Australia v England - ODI Series: Game 1

SRH's pace attack was lethal in IPL 2022. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, and Umran Malik were among the wickets, with occasional contributions from the likes of Marco Jansen. The spin department, on the other hand, was threadbare.

Washington Sundar was the primary spinner as he dealt with a series of injuries. Aiden Markram and Abhishek Sharma were sparingly used with the ball, with Kane Williamson relying on his pacers to give him 16 overs more often than not.

Shreyas Gopal was the only wrist-spinner on SRH's roster in the 2022 season and he too has been released. As a result, Hyderabad are without a leggie in their ranks. They will definitely know the value of having a wicket-taking spinner; unfortunately, though, the auction pool is rather limited in that aspect.

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#2 SRH don't have quality pace-bowling all-rounders

3rd One Day International: India v South Africa

SRH's top and middle order did the bulk of the run-scoring in IPL 2022. Apart from Abhishek, who came into his own as the season progressed, Markram, Nicholas Pooran and Rahul Tripathi chipped in with vital contributions.

The lower order, which was a touch thin, wasn't asked to do much. That might change in IPL 2022, with the Orange Army having released Williamson and Pooran. Having all-rounders will be crucial for SRH, and while they have a few multifaceted spinners, their pacers are almost wholly incapable with the bat.

Jansen is the only handy batter among the fast-bowling group, and even he is not reliable in T20 cricket. SRH desperately need quality pace-bowling all-rounders, and luckily for them, they have the purse to go after the best names on offer. They will need to be careful with their spending, though, having made the same mistake with Romario Shepherd and Sean Abbott.

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#1 SRH need a captain

New Zealand v India - 1st ODI

Williamson was on SRH's books for ₹14 crore, a ridiculous amount given his batting ability in the shortest format. Even though the Kiwi was the franchise's skipper, he was released ahead of the IPL 2023 auction.

Will Hyderabad attempt to buy Williamson back at a lesser price? Even if they decide to do so, it might not be a wise choice since he hasn't shown the dynamism needed for the IPL level. If they don't, on the other hand, SRH will probably need to find a captain at the auction, unless they opt to take an unorthodox route by handing over the reins to someone already part of the side.

As of now, it seems like SRH will target a leader at the auction. It's something that will be of great importance since the skipper's philosophies reflect the team's style of play on some level even in this era of analytics and contributions from the think tank.