IPL 2019: Best Sunrisers Hyderabad XI from the list of retained players

During the recently concluded IPL player trade window, Sunrisers Hyderabad traded their batting mainstay, Shikhar Dhawan to Delhi Daredevils and in return, they procured the services of 3 Delhi Daredevils players Abhishek Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem.

Before the upcoming auctions for IPL 2019, SRH team management has retained 17 players and released 8 players.

Retained Players - David Warner, Kane Williamson, Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, Ricky Bhui, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Shreevats Goswami (wk), Khaleel Ahmed, Yusuf Pathan, Billy Stanlake, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Shakib Al Hasan, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Released Players - Chris Jordan, Carlos Brathwaite, Alex Hales, Sachin Baby, Tanmay Agarwal, Wriddhiman Saha, Bipul Sharma, Mehdi Hasan

Traded players - Shikhar Dhawan to Delhi Daredevils for Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem, Abhishek Sharma.

SRH team has managed to retain there core bowling unit from the previous seasons. In the batting department, they lost the services of opening batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan.

SRH team has 5 slots remaining, using which they will look to buy a reliable middle order batsmen and a world class wicket keeper batsman to complete there squad.

Bowling Department:

They already have the best bowling line-up in the league which comprises of - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Billy Stanlake, Siddarth Kaul, and Khaleel Ahmed. Till last year they didn't have a proper Indian spinner as a back up for Rashid Khan, but this year they bought in Shahbaz Nadeem (who is a prolific wicket-taker in domestic cricket) and further strengthened their spin department.

All-rounders:

Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Vijay Shankar, Deepak Hooda, and Mohammed Nabi are the available all-rounders for the SRH team after the culmination of the trade window. Addition of Vijay Shankar to the squad will enhance the balance of the team as he can play the role of the finisher(strike rate - 143.24 in IPL 2018) in the batting department and can also bowl 2-3 overs of medium pace when required. Vijay Shankar might be the primary all-rounder for the team going into the next IPL season.

Batting Department:

The departure of Shikhar Dhawan will surely hurt them at top of the order. Now Kane Williamson might transform into the role of the opener and open up the number 3 slot for other batsmen. Returning David Warner and Kane Williamson might be the best possible opening pair for the SRH team for the upcoming season.

Manish Pandey might bat at number 3 position, a position where he has been highly successful for his previous franchise KKR. Historically middle order has been SRH's Achilles heel. Currently, they have Hooda, Pathan, Vijay Shankar, and Shakib as the middle order options. Shreevats Goswami is the only wicket keeping option available in the squad right now.

Ideal Playing XI

The Indian T20I players in SRH squad

The XI has been compiled by considering the previous performances of players in particular positions in the line-up. All-rounders Deepak Hooda, Abhishek Sharma, and Vijay Shankar will combine to bowl the 4 overs of the fifth bowler in this XI. Kane Williamson will continue to lead the team after a fruitful season last year.

David Warner, Kane Williamson(captain), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Shreevats Goswami (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Siddarth Kaul, Billy Stanlake.