IPL 2022 Auction: 3 opening combinations SRH could explore

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) focused on their bowling unit heading into the IPL 2022 Auction. And to their credit, they managed to hold on to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan — two of their best seamers around whom the rest of the bowling was constructed.

A bigger concern for the side would be the opening and middle order unit that seems relatively untested. Their acquisitions Romario Shepherd, Abhishek Sharma, and Priyam Garg (both of whom played for the side last season) are low on experience.

Much of their campaign depends on the opening combination they go with. Ahead of the start of IPL 2022, we will take a look at the options SRH can explore.

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#1 Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram: SRH's likely combination

An attacking batter in Rahul Tripathi who has played the role of an opener before and South Africa's Aiden Markram will be one of the choices SRH could explore early on in the innings.

Markram's technique and his ability to score freely makes him one of the players who can take the game deeper while Tripathi provides the impetus in the powerplay.

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#2 Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran

A right-left combination that would serve better and also send out a strong statement to the opposition. Pooran's lack of runs in the middle for Punjab Kings in the previous season might just tempt the Sunrisers to see what he does if pushed up the order.

Adding to this is the chemistry both these players share considering they played for the same franchise last season. Pooran's fluency and Markram's finesse make them a reliable opening salvo.

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#3 Rahul Tripathi and Kane Williamson

Williamson has played five innings as an opener for Hyderabad and has seen some success, scoring 155 runs at an average of 31.00 and a strike rate of 143.52, his highest compared to No.3 (128.21) and No.4 (133.90).

No doubt his ability to find gaps and loft the ball over the rope in the powerplay adds to those stats, but this could be a Virat Kohli and RCB approach where he plays the entire innings and others play around him.