5 ex-SRH players who are doing well in IPL 2023

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is known for Indian and overseas stars playing together for a franchise. Certain marquee players are also associated with a franchise like MS Dhoni for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Virat Kohli for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

However, there have been numerous instances of many players representing several franchises in their IPL careers. Certain players perform better in some franchises but struggle to recreate this form for others and vice versa.

Examples of such cases could be the difference in Chris Gayle's performances for KKR and RCB, Shane Watson's for RR and RCB and Yuzvendra Chahal's for MI and RCB.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have had players move to other franchises and achieve great things. We look at the five former SRH players who have performed incredibly well thus far in IPL 2023.

# 1 Mohammed Siraj

Siraj has been a revelation since coming to RCB.

Remember Mohammed Siraj playing for the Sunrisers? The right-arm medium pacer did play his first few matches in the IPL for SRH in 2017 and picked up ten wickets at an impressive average of 21.20.

However, Siraj has been a part of RCB since 2018 and has made dramatic improvements each year and is now the spearhead of the RCB bowling attack.

While he has averaged around ten wickets per season from 2018 to 2022, Siraj's form this season has been nothing short of sensational. The 29-year-old has picked up eight wickets at an average of 17.50 and has an economy rate of just seven runs per over in five matches.

Despite playing home games at the unforgiving Chinnaswamy Stadium over the last six years, Siraj has made rapid strides. He will hope to continue his impressive start to IPL 2023 as RCB look to qualify for the playoffs for the fourth straight season.

# 2 Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan has been one of India's greatest white-ball batters over the last decade. He was part of SRH between 2013 and 2018 and played a vital role in SRH winning the IPL title in 2016.

Dhawan has been one of the most reliable opening batters in IPL history, with 6,477 runs to his name at an overall average of 36 at a strike rate of 127.

After playing for the Delhi Capitals from 2019 to 2021, Shikhar joined Punjab Kings (PBKS) last year. Appointed as captain ahead of this season, Dhawan has taken his batting to new heights as he has already piled up 233 runs at a stunning average of 116.50 and a strike rate of 146.54 in four matches.

Dhawan has been instrumental in carrying a largely inexperienced batting lineup, and his exploits have PBKS sitting pretty with three wins from five matches. His stand-out moment this season was his magnificent unbeaten 99 off just 56 deliveries in a team score of 143/9 against his former team SRH.

Dhawan will look to continue his red-hot form to lead the Punjab Kings to their first playoff qualification since 2014.

# 3 Rashid Khan

Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan started his IPL career in 2017 with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). He played there for five years until 2021, becoming a household name with his brilliant performances.

In that period, Rashid picked up 93 wickets from 76 matches and was instrumental in SRH making the finals in 2018 and the playoffs from 2017 to 2020.

However, the franchise had an overhaul after its disastrous 2021 season, and Rashid Khan was picked up by the Gujarat Titans (GT) ahead of the 2022 season. He immediately made his presence felt as he picked up 19 wickets. Rashid also made several cameos with the bat, leading the Titans to their first IPL title in their debut last year.

The No.1 T20I bowler has carried on his imperious form this season and has picked up 11 wickets in just five matches at an average of 15.09.

Rashid also became the first bowler to pick up a hat-trick in this year's IPL when he removed Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Shardul Thakur against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

# 4 Vijay Shankar

Tamil Nadu's Vijay Shankar has been one of the stand-out performers so far in this year's IPL. Shankar has scored 119 runs in three matches at an average of 59.50 and a strike rate of 175 for the Gujarat Titans.

The 32-year-old, who was part of India's 2019 World Cup squad, has largely struggled to live up to his billing in the IPL. He played for the SRH from 2016 to 2017 and from 2019 to 2021.

While Shankar hardly featured in the playing XI in his first stint with SRH, he played in 29 matches from 2019 to 2021. However, Shankar failed to put in many performances of note, scoring just 399 runs at an average of 15 with only one half-century.

# 5 Sandeep Sharma

Sandeep Sharma has surprised many this season as he was picked up at the last moment by the Rajasthan Royals (RR) after Prasidh Krishna was ruled out with injury. The saying "One man's misfortune is another man's opportunity," applies to Sharma as he has gone from being unsold to bowling the most crucial overs for the Royals.

Since missing the initial stages of the season, Sandeep has picked up four wickets in three matches at an average of 18.75 and an economy rate of under seven runs per over.

The highlight of his season was the final over against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Chennai when he defended seven runs off three balls with MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja with pinpoint yorkers.

After spending four years with SRH between 2018 and 2021, Sandeep Sharma played for the Punjab Kings in last year's IPL. During his tenure with SRH, Sandeep picked up 41 wickets in 43 matches.

After a disappointing season last year, Sandeep was unsold before being brought in as an injury replacement. He has grabbed this opportunity with both hands so far this season.