IPL 2020: Ranking the teams based on their bench strength

#5 Sunrisers Hyderabad

SRH

Predicted Starting XI: Jonny Bairstow (wk), David Warner, Kane Williamson (c), Manish Pandey, Virat Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Siddharth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed

SRH have excellent backup batsmen in the form of Wriddhiman Saha and Shreevats Goswami. Both these domestic batsmen are wicketkeepers as well and will be back up for Bairstow. Priyam Garg is a highly rated batsman and the current skipper of India Under 19s. Sanjay Yadav will be another batting reserve in the squad.

The Hyderabad-based franchise boast of exceptional reserves in the all-rounders' department as well. Mohammad Nabi proved his worth in the previous season as a brilliant Bowling Allrounder. 28-year-old Mitchell Marsh has also been roped in this season and can be a more than handy foreign reserve. Bavanaka Sandeep, Abdul Samad, and Fabian Allen will be the three other backup all-rounders in the team.

There is only one backup in the spin department which is a little concerning. Slow left-arm orthodox bowler Shahbaz Nadeem will act as the backup spinner for Rashid Khan. The Muzzafarpur-born player is a talented bowler and has made 42 scalps in 64 IPL matches. Nadeem is a reliable spinner to have in the squad.

Sandeep Sharma, Thangarasu Natarajan, and Basil Thampi are the Indian reserves in the fast-bowling department. Sharma is the most experienced of the lot and also made 12 scalps in 11 matches last season. He will likely get a place in the first team in place of Kaul or Khaleel Ahmed considering their form. Australia's Billy Stanlake was also retained by SRH for ₹50 lakh and will be the foreign speedster in the squad.