IPL 2022 Auction: 3 traits of the SRH squad that put them ahead of the other teams

Following a miserable Indian Premier League (IPL) season in which they finished dead last in the points table, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will have an eye on turning things around this year.

SRH have been on the wane ever since their breakthrough IPL-winning season in 2016, but they have undergone a massive overhaul over the course of the retentions and the auction.

SRH's squad for IPL 2022: Kane Williamson, Umran Malik, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Nicholas Pooran, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Priyam Garg, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Kartik Tyagi, Shreyas Gopal, J Suchith, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Romario Shepherd, Sean Abbott, R Samarth, Shashank Singh, Saurabh Dubey, Vishnu Vinod, Glenn Phillips, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Here are three things about SRH that make them real contenders for the upcoming IPL season.

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#3 SRH have many all-rounders and additional bowling options

England v South Africa - ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021

SRH's first-choice playing XI could contain as many as seven bowling options. With spinners Abhishek Sharma and Aiden Markram batting in the top six, the team can afford to play all-rounders all the way until No. 8 in the lineup. Even outside their ideal playing XI, SRH have names like Marco Jansen, J Suchith, Sean Abbott and Glenn Phillips who can contribute in both departments.

SRH made their intent to pursue all-rounders very clear in the IPL 2022 auction. And although they may not have acquired all their targets, they have assembled a plethora of multi-dimensional cricketers who can minimize the number of costly individual performances on any given day.

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#2 SRH have a good blend of youth and experience

ICC U19 Cricket World Cup - India v Papua New Guinea

Kane Williamson is the leader of the side, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the leader of the pace attack. But outside these two players' most of SRH's playing XI consists of young players whose best is ahead of them. The Orange Army are working towards building a stable playing XI for the next few IPL seasons, and their business at the mega auction crossed off a key item on their checklist - youth.

The SRH think tank has big names like Muttiah Muralitharan, Brian Lara, Tom Moody, Dale Steyn and Hemang Badani, who can groom the team's youngsters to become the match-winners we all know they can be. And on their part, SRH's players are a talented bunch with a massive upside, forming an excellent blend within the franchise.

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#1 IPL 2022 will be a fresh start for SRH

New Zealand v Australia - ICC Men's T20 World Cup Final 2021

SRH have been through some serious turmoil over the last year or so. David Warner experienced an ugly fall-out with the franchise, which has undergone a few changes to its coaching staff. Simon Katich has pulled out of IPL 2022 mere days after the auction, giving birth to rumors that something's wrong behind the scenes at SRH.

But after releasing Warner, Jonny Bairstow and even Rashid Khan, SRH can get a fresh start in IPL 2022. With a calm and capable leader like Williamson at the helm, SRH can build a firm base on their youngsters, who may not come with the man-management concerns usually reserved for senior players. Samad and Malik were more than happy to be retained for INR 4 crore each, even when they would've probably gone for more at the auction.

SRH will want to instill a sense of loyalty to the franchise and put the clouds hanging over them to bed, and IPL 2022 will be a clean slate.