IPL 2022 Auction: Predicting the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad ahead of the marquee tournament

Sunrisers Hyderabad will be looking for a highly-productive IPL 2022 auction and much of this stems from the fact that they have had a woeful IPL 2021. Not only did the season end with them placed at the bottom of the table, it also saw the exit of their decorated skipper, David Warner.

With Kane Williamson set to lead the new-look franchise, the team will look to build a formidable unit around the Kiwi and their surprise retentions, Abdul Samad and Umran Malik.

Hyderabad enter the IPL 2022 auction with INR 68 crores — enough to spring for an expensive signing or two, and build a roster that will see them coast to the playoffs and perhaps even a title.

We make an attempt at predicting the squad as the auction looms large. The mega event is slated to take place in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13, 2022.

---

Predicting SRH squad ahead of the IPL 2022 Auction

Like our previous predictions, we start off with the openers. Hyderabad have enjoyed a strong start courtesy of Warner and Bairstow. Wriddhiman Saha and Manish Pandey have played a few games up top, lending equally impressive contributions.

The marquee set presents enough options for Hyderabad.

Player	Role
Ishan Kishan	Top-order batter/WK
Faf du Plessis	Top-order batter
Robin Uthappa	Top-order batter/WK
Quinton de Kock	Top-order batter/WK
Devdutt Padikkal	Opener batter
Manan Vohra	Opener batter

Known to be a side that plays street-smart cricket, they have been equally shrewd with their choice of players. Uthappa and Vohra can be steals, while the rest on the list will cost them a substantial amount of money. What they are guaranteed are sorted performances assuming the players stay healthy.

Moving on to the bowlers, Hyderabad will look to build a crack unit at the IPL 2022 Auction. They have their options lined up.

Player	Role
Trent Boult	Bowler/Seam
Tim Southee	Bowler/Seam
T Natarajan	Bowler/Seam
Navdeep Saini	Bowler/Seam
Kagiso Rabada	Bowler/Seam
Josh Hazlewood	Bowler/Seam
Umesh Yadav	Bowler/Seam
Mohammed Shami	Bowler/Seam
Chetan Sakariya	Bowler/Seam

Expect Hyderabad to go for broke when it comes to roping in seamers. Their pace attack, with Malik in the ranks and Dale Steyn in a management role, will see them target an experienced quick (we're talking Boult here) to lead the seamers.

The middle-order was one of the weak spots for Sunrisers in the previous edition of the IPL. Their inability to close out games cost them and the side will look to beef up their middle order with quality batters.

Player	Role
Ambati Rayudu	Batter
Steve Smith	Batter
Aiden Markram	Batter
Liam Livingstone	Batter
Suresh Raina	Batter
Nitish Rana	Batter
KS Bharat	Batter
Rahul Tripathi	Batter

Moving to the spin department, it shouldn't come as a surprise if Yuzvendra Chahal is on their wishlist. The tweaker, a suitable replacement for Rashid Khan, will be another probable high-cost acquisition. Ashwin is a dark horse who just might bag a contract as well.

Player	Role
Ravichandran Ashwin	Spin
Yuzvendra Chahal	Spin
Adam Zampa	Spin
Mitchell Santner	Spin
Shahbaz Nadeem	Spin

And finally, the all-rounders. Hyderabad will be looking for two quality all-rounders in the IPL 2022 Auction who can provide the much-needed punch. We take a look at some of the options.

Player	Role
Washington Sundar	All-rounder
Krunal Pandya	All-rounder
Shardul Thakur	All-rounder
Deepak Chahar	All-rounder
Jason Holder	All-rounder
Mitchell Marsh	All-rounder

Marsh and Holder have a shot at making it back into the squad this season and Hyderabad will surely bid for the latter considering his game IQ and performances in the past. Chahar and Thakur will be the Indian bowling all-rounders on their radar as well during the IPL 2022 Auction.

---

SRH ideal XI:

Ishan Kishan, Devdutt Padikkal, Kane Williamson, Ambati Rayudu, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Jason Holder, Trent Boult, Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal.