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Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will begin their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 campaign against Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on September 21 in Dubai. SRH will be looking forward to shine in the upcoming competition.
Sunrisers have always been one of the major candidates for the IPL title ever since they introduced themselves in the cash-rich league. They have a pretty strong captain in the form of David Warner, who made the side victorious in 2016. SRH would be hoping to replicate a similar kind of performance in IPL 2020.
For the upcoming tournament, the ‘Orange Army’ have managed to put together a decent squad featuring the likes of experienced players and aspiring youngsters.
Let’s have a look at their ideal playing XI for IPL 2020:
Openers: David Warner, Wriddhiman Saha
There is no doubt that Sunrisers’ batting will revolve around Warner, who has surpassed 500 runs every season he has played for the Orange Army. The ‘pocket dynamite’ will open the innings with Wriddhiman Saha.
Although fans would want to see Jonny Bairstow along with Warner to start the proceedings, but considering the conditions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), SRH would rather wish to strengthen their middle-order by going for Kane Williamson.
Middle-order: Kane Williamson, Virat Singh, Manish Pandey
To support middle-order on slow wickets in UAE, it is expected that SRH would include Kane Williamson in the team. The 2019 season for the Kiwi skipper didn’t go well as he averaged just 22.28 after appearing for nine games.
But on spin-friendly tracks, and lack of experienced players for the middle-order, Williamson would be a natural choice. The right-handed batsman will be accompanied by young Virat Singh and dynamic strokemaker Manish Pandey.
Virat has been quite magnificent in the domestic circuit. He has scored 343 runs at 57.16 with a strike rate of 142.32 in the previous edition of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
All-rounders: Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi
Sunrisers have an excellent mixture of all-rounders in the squad. The prime candidates to be featured in the playing XI would be Vijay Shankar and Mohammad Nabi.
Shankar shall be eager to prove his credentials, especially after being dropped from the national team.
Mohammad Nabi, on the other hand, has recently displayed top-class show in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020 with bat and ball.
While playing for St Lucia Zouks (SLZ) Nabi picked up 12 wickets – sixth highest in the season. He also scored 156 runs with a strike-rate of 124.80. The Afghan lad will be a crucial player for SRH in the UAE.
Bowlers: Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul
The inclusion of Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Siddharth Kaul is an expected choice as the trio has been relatively consistent for the Sunrisers.
They shall love to go for another specialist spinner in the form of Shahbaz Nadeem as UAE will offer slow tracks.
Rashid and Shahbaz would handle the spin department, and Nabi will assist them.
Similarly, Bhuvneshwar and Siddharth will take control of opening as well as the death bowling. They would be eyeing support from Shankar.
Here is Sunrisers’ ideal playing XI:
- David Warner – Matches: 126; Runs: 4706; Average: 43.17; 100’s: 4; 50’s: 44
- Wriddhiman Saha – Matches: 120; Runs: 1765; Average: 23.85; 100’s:1; 50’s: 6
- Kane Williamson – Matches: 41; Runs: 1302; Average: 38.29; 50’s: 12
- Virat Singh – Matches: 56; Runs: 1552; Average: 35.27; 50’s: 10 (T20s Domestic)
- Manish Pandey – Matches: 130; Runs: 2843; Average: 29.30; 100’s: 1; 50’s: 15
- Vijay Shankar – Matches: 33; Runs: 557; Average: 30.94; 50’s: 2; Wickets: 2; Economy: 10.50
- Mohammad Nabi – Matches: 13; Runs: 135; Average: 15.00; Wickets: 11; Economy: 6.61
- Rashid Khan – Matches: 46; Wickets: 55; Best: 3/19; Economy: 6.55
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar – Matches: 117; Wickets: 133; Best: 5/19; Economy: 7.24
- Shahbaz Nadeem – Matches: 64; Wickets: 42; Best: 3/16; Economy: 7.48
- Siddharth Kaul – Matches: 45; Wickets: 49; Best: 4/29; Economy: 8.47
