When the auction took place late last year, Sunrisers Hyderabad were hailed as one of the teams to watch out for, and perhaps even title contenders for IPL 2023. However, just like in the previous two years, it turned out to be another season which started with hope, only for the ship to capsize.
What we predicted
Based on how well-balanced the franchise looked on paper, we had predicted that Hyderabad would qualify for the playoffs. After all they had players like Aiden Markram, Glenn Phillips, Heinrich Klaasen, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and others in the set-up. They had a strong batting core, a useful bowling attack and a slew of promising players like Umran Malik, Vivrant Sharma, and Abhishek Sharma. Yes, without Rashid Khan, the spin bowling department didn’t have an attack leader. But Mayank Markande, Akeal Hosein and Adil Rashid made for a competent trio.
Where they finished
Hyderabad ended up as the bottom-placed side with just four wins from 14 matches. After losing the first two games, Hyderabad did win a couple. Unfortunately for the franchise, that was followed by a string of losses. Their four victories came against Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals.
What went wrong?
A number of their players couldn’t make an impact – Umran, Natarajan, Abdul Samad and Mayank Agarwal. Even Markram and Rahul Tripathi had middling season. Umran, arguably the league’s fastest bowler, could only take five wickets in eight games. Mayank did score a fifty in Hyderabad’s last game, but 270 runs in ten matches doesn’t make for good reading, especially as he batted at the top of the order.
What went right?
Klaasen. The wicketkeeper-bat from South Africa was a shining light amid the ruins as he finished with 448 runs at a strike rate of just over 177. In Hyderabad’s penultimate game of the season against Royal Challengers Bangalore, he compiled an awe-inspiring 51-ball 104. Incidentally, he scored more than 50 per cent of the team’s runs in that game. Somewhere in September 2015, Shukri Conrad, South Africa’s current coach who then headed their national academy, had noted Klaasen’s style of play as somewhat similar to MS Dhoni’s. Eight years later, in the IPL, one could see Klaasen’s range of shots and bat-speed.
Saving grace
The experienced Bhuvneshwar plucked 16 wickets at an average of just over 26 this season. Although he wasn’t at his absolute best, it was a creditable performance from the veteran.
Flop show
Brook, who was bought for a whopping 13.25 crores, could only compile 190 runs in the 11 matches he played. He couldn’t open his account in the three of his last four matches. Yes, Brook showcased his class and quality in one of the earlier games, when he crunched a brilliant unbeaten hundred against Kolkata Knight Riders, but at the end of Sunrisers’ campaign, that seemed like an oasis in the desert. His tendency to premeditate almost every second ball – trying to manufacture room by moving towards the on-side – didn’t help his cause.