IPL 2018 Auctions: How Sunrisers Hyderabad smartly built a solid side

The first day of the IPL 2018 Auction was full of surprises and shocks. These are the grandest and biggest auctions ever in the history of the Indian Premier League as the auctions saw a complete shuffle of players. A total of 578 players had to go under the hammer and some expensive signings were expected. Some teams were extremely smart building a balanced side keeping the budget in mind, some just couldn't control their emotions and were looking to buy almost everyone, while some preferred resting and seeing others bid.

The smartest of all was Sunrisers Hyderabad. The winners of the 9th edition of the league retained their captain, David Warner and their specialist bowler, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. They were allowed to show the Right to Match card to three of their players and they decided to show the card to Shikhar Dhawan, Rashid Khan and surprisingly Deepak Hooda.

The Sunrisers made some cheap buys and gradually built a balanced side. A squad of 13 players has been made yet by the Sunrisers and out of these 13, a solid playing XI could be made.

SRH bought Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Kane Williamson, Shikhar Dhawan, Rashid Khan, Ricky Bhui, Deepak Hooda, Siddharth Kaul, T Natarajan, Basil Thampi and Syed Khaleed Ahmed. The Bangladeshi all-rounder- Shakib Al Hasan was bought from KKR and this was indeed a brilliant signing since he is undoubtedly one of the best all-rounders in the world right now. Rashid Khan has been a sensation ever since he came into limelight and so, his presence has definitely strengthened the bowling.

Dhawan and Warner's deadly pair is one that no one would want to break and Williamson, being one of the best technical batsmen in the world is a brilliant inclusion in the side. Siddharth Kaul, Basil Thampi and Natarajan had all impressed in the last season with their ability to perform under pressure. Yusuf Pathan is no less as well. He might not be consistent, but on his day, he can prove to be a match winner, with both, the bat and the ball.

Hyderabad still has a budget of around 14 Crores left to buy a minimum of 5 players to fulfil their quota of at least 18 players, which is sufficient considering the fact that most of the players left are uncapped and have a lower base price. The Sunrisers were undoubtedly the smartest today and would be looking to make a league winning side as an exciting second day of IPL 2018 Auctions awaits!