We don’t often use the word “club” for IPL franchises, but no other word in the sports dictionary suits David Warner better than “Club Legend”. 4014 runs, 2 centuries, 40 half-centuries in 95 innings, a strike rate of 143, and an average of nearly 50 for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
But like every beautiful thing in this world, his tenure at the Hyderabad came to an end. It was not the kind of ending fans expected; infact, it was 100% contrasting; the legendary t20 opener was sacked as captain in 2021 and even dropped after a few bad games, and the relations on both sides became so bad that Hyderabad couldn’t retain Warner even after his Man of the Tournament performance in T20 World Cup.
Mega Auction 2022 provided a trembling franchise with an opportunity to start fresh, but things got worse when they couldn’t bring down an agreement with the best t20 player in the world, Rashid Khan. Warner gone, Rashid gone, 2 Indian newbies were picked as retentions alongside captain Kane Williamson, who wasn’t even making a place in the XI at some points and was suffering from an injury. Even then, somehow, the team assembled at the end of the auction looked somewhat exciting. Nicholas Pooran, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, A batting lineup oozing freedom and aggression. SRH even managed to win 5 games in a row after 2 heavy defeats to start the event, but everything from that point went downhill.
2023 shared a similar story: aggression in the young batting lineup, a new overseas captain with some hope, but the team going nowhere. SRH finished dead bottom.
Another year passes by, and the team, which was once renowned for its consistency, needs something special after its 3 consecutive non-playoff seasons. During that period, 2 of SRH’s overseas stars picked up the form of their life (Markram & Klaasen), and thanks to their auction table’s free approach, they managed to get 2 more (Cummins and Head). Pat Cummins joins Sunrisers Hyderabad, 4th overseas captain in 4 years. The auction was, however, never the problem for Hyderabad; it was the performance & neutral cricket fans were expecting a similar story except those who believed in the Champion’s mentality that Australians bring, afterall it was an Australian who won the Sunrisers their only IPL title and another Aussie who won it with formerly existing Deccan Chargers.
We are at game no. 22 of IPL 2024, and as of now, SRH are at 5th position in the table with 2 wins and equal losses, but the story is way more than just the number of wins. A lot of viewers are already expecting this team to reach as far as the finals, afterall a team that can break an 11-year-long record of the highest IPL total cannot escape fans’ anticipations.
What is happening differently for the Orange army? What actually brings the difference? AUSTRALIANISM, BOLDNESS, & CLARITY could very well be their ABC for success this year. Travis Head is doing what he is notoriously known for, Abhishek Sharma is hitting it more than usual, Klaasen’s consistency can beat the word consistent itself, and Markram is more determined to contribute. Bhuvneshwar doesn’t want to let it go so early, Cummins is as accurate as if every game is a Final, Shahbaz is not missing out on opportunities, and Samad is justifying his talent. Each and every individual with 100% contribution from their end for the win of the team, what else should a champion team possess?
A franchise that was built on the shoulder of a single individual named Warner now has multiple shoulders to carry its load, to carry it to the title. If Cricket is as simple as everything in this world should be, then captain Pat Cummins must lift his 3rd Championship of the last 12 months on the 26th of May. 3rd different trophy in 3rd different format. The sheer greatness.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD MUST WIN IPL 2024.
