5 reasons why Sunrisers Hyderabad won IPL 2016

Sunrisers Hyderabad have become the champions of the 9th season of the Indian Premier League after they shrugged off the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

It is difficult to point the finger at what went right for the champions. In a long tournament, it is essential to maintain consistency right through and to stick to your strengths.

However, we take a look at the 5 most important factors that helped Sunrisers become the new champions:

David Warner

Perhaps if there will be an example of someone dragging a team all along all by himself, it will be hard to look beyond David Warner this season. The captain and the opening batsman, Warner was like the galvanising point of his team.

He scored runs in truckloads all the way through, he scored runs in crucial matches, he scored runs while chasing and while setting totals. The combative Australian just stole the show and eventually lifted the trophy.

He scored 93 in the qualifiers to put his team in the finals and then scored 69 in the finals to help his team set a humongous score. Altogether he plundered 848 runs in 17 innings. Indeed a superhero for the Sunrisers.

The bowling duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman

There was little doubt that Sunrisers Hyderabad had the best bowling attack of the season. The Finals, many believed was a clash between the best batting line-up and the best bowling line-up, and in the end, the bowlers won the day.

The combination of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman was almost impossible to breach for any opposition batsmen. They formed such a potent combination that scoring runs against them especially in the death overs was next to improbable.

Bhuvneshwar was good with the new ball as well and when he returned for the final few overs, he nailed his yorkers to perfection. And then there was Mustafizur who continues to rise, who continues to mesmerize with his control and variations.

Together the duo picked up 40 wickets in the tournament.

The all-round capabilities of Moises Henriques and Ben Cutting

The management stuck with Moises Henriques right through and the Australian repaid the faith on many occasions during the tournament.

Initially, he walked in at number 3 but did not taste success, but was persevered with. He dropped down few notches and started getting into his groove. He can handle spin well and thus was given the long rope.

With the ball, however, he was steady and although he did not pick up wickets like Bhuvi or Mustafizur, he kept things quiet in the middle overs.

And then Sunrisers received a massive bonus in the form of Ben Cutting in the final lap of the tournament. The big-hitting all-rounder had an immediate impact with the bat with his six-hitting ability. Even with the ball he held his own against the Kolkata Knight Riders in the qualifiers. In the final the final over in which he plundered Shane Watson for 23 runs swung the momentum in his side's favour.

Consistency in selection

The teams which are successful in long tournaments like the IPL are more or less certain about their playing combinations. This theory was once again reinforced by the SRH as they stuck to the nucleus of the team right through and did not tweak the combinations just for the sake of it. Also, they did not drop players after just one bad performance and this eventually worked for them as the players got confident in their roles as they were assured of their places in the team.

Their performances away from home

Playing at home is a massive factor in cricket, more so in the shortest format where conditions suit the home team perfectly.

But this season it was a different story as far as the Sunrisers were concerned. They won as many as 7 matches away from home, including the knockouts and the finals. The revelled in conditions that were not exactly tailor-made to suit them and eventually this adaptability factor held them in good stead and allowed them to emerge champions.