IPL 2019: 3 key overseas players for Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad is one of the most balanced teams in this edition of IPL. They have arguably the best bowling attack among all the teams, and their batting lineup is also pretty strong.

SRH won the IPL title in 2016 and they were the runners up in 2018.

Individual performance-wise, SRH’s players have won 3 Orange Caps, 2 Purple Caps, and 1 Emerging Player of the Year title. Their most successful batsman is David Warner, while the most successful bowler is Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

In this year’s auctions, the major players they bought were Jonny Bairstow and Martin Guptill, and they also traded Shikhar Dhawan to Delhi Capitals. They retained most of their key players including David Warner, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Sandeep Sharma and Yusuf Pathan

This year the team will again be captained by Kane Williamson, and the coach of the team will be Tom Moody.

On that note, here’s a look at 3 key overseas players for SRH in this edition of the IPL.

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#3 Rashid Khan

20-year-old Rashid Khan is a leg spinner from Afghanistan. He made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in October 2015, at the age of 17. One year later he made his T20I debut, also against Zimbabwe.

In the World Cup Qualifier final against the West Indies, Rashid became the fastest and youngest bowler to take 100 wickets in ODIs. He took 44 matches to take his 100th dismissal.

In June 2018, he became the fastest bowler, in terms of time, to take 50 wickets in T20Is, reaching the milestone in two years and 220 days.

In the recently concluded BBL, Rashid was a part of Adelaide Strikers. He picked up 19 wickets from 14 matches at an average of 18.10, and had an economy rate of 6.14.

In 2017 IPL, Rashid was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for 4 crore. He has taken 38 IPL wickets from 31 matches so far at an average of 21.47, at an excellent economy rate of 6.68.

Rashid is expected to bowl in the middle overs for SRH, and he will be hoping to continue his good form in this edition of the IPL too.

#2 David Warner

David Warner averages 40.54 in IPL

The return of David Warner will be a big boost to Sunrisers Hyderabad this year. The 32-year-old Warner missed the 2018 IPL due to the 12-month ban imposed on him over the ball-tampering incident, but will be eligible to play in the 2019 season.

Warner is one of the most successful players in IPL. He won the Orange Cap in 2015 and 2017.

In the latest edition of Bangladesh Premier League, Warner was a part of Sylhet Sixers and has scored 223 runs from 7 matches.

In IPL, Warner has played for Delhi Daredevils (2009-2013) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (2014-present). He was the captain of the Sunrisers’ squad that won the title in 2016.

Warner has scored 2824 IPL runs from 114 matches averaging 40.54 at a strike rate of 142.13.

However, by the end of April, Warner will have to return home for his World Cup 2019 preparations. That means he will miss nearly half of SRH's matches this season.

Warner is expected to open the innings for Sunrisers. He will be hoping to make his return to the IPL a big one.

#1 Kane Williamson

Williamson has an average of 42.44 in IPL

The 28-year-old Kane Williamson is a right-handed batsman from New Zealand. He is widely considered one of the best batsmen in the world, across all formats.

Williamson has scored 5554 runs from 139 ODIs at an average of 45.90 and 1505 T20I runs from 57 matches at an average of 31.35.

In the ongoing Test series against Bangladesh, he hit a commanding double century in the first Test.

In IPL, Williamson has been a part of Sunrisers from 2015. He has scored 1146 runs from 32 matches at an average of 42.44, striking at 137.11. He won the Orange Cap in IPL 2018 with 735 runs from 17 matches.

In the absence of David Warner, Williamson led the team in 2018 and they managed to finish as the runners-up that year. Williamson will again lead SRH in 2019, and will either open the batting or bat at No: 3.