Coming into existence in the 2013 season, initially the franchise modelled itself to be the de facto underdogs that everyone loves in such leagues. Known for low-scoring thrillers, SRH was never the contenders, and neither had the league’s superstars. Well, all of that changed with the arrival of Warner. Both these entities grew as the team of Deccan rose in fame. However, a bitter end to the relationship in 2021 left sour experiences amongst fans. Following this debacle came the drought of 3 years where the team languished at the bottom. However, the arrival of another Aussie stalwart in 2024 tipped the scales, with the team reaching the finals of IPL 2024.
Cummins and Co now aim to travel one step further.
Squad Preview
SRH retained their foreign core in the form of Head, Cummins and Klaasen, even if it costed them a fortune. In addition, young stars Abhishek and Nitish Reddy rounded up the list of retained players. Kavya Mara had the purse to splurge on, and she did exactly that.
First of all, the pace battery was secured, with the think tank deciding to trust on experience, picking up players like Mohammad Shami and Harshal Patel. They were able to purchase a couple of leggies at a bargain in the form of Rahul Chahar and Adam Zampa. However the biggest buy was that of Ishan Kishan. An integral part of the Paltan, Kishan is set to have a new beginning and most likely at a new position.
Strengths
Swashbuckling Openers: The Duo of Head and Abhishek created an uproar last season, ensuring a page in T20 folklore and the way they have carried their form in other competitions; we can only expect a continuation of last year’s fireworks.
Across all T20 competitions, Head and Abhishek have the best strike rate in overs 1-6 both individually (1st and 2nd highest strike rate, respectively) and as an opening pair in T20 cricket since 2024! Given Head has been in terrific form in other formats where new-ball conditions are much tougher, new-ball attacks have their task cut out against this duo.
Arsenal against the Spinners: The free-flow of runs carries over from the power-play to the middle overs when it comes to Hyderabad’s batting innings, given the pedigree the batters possess against the spinners.
Abhishek, Nitish, and Klaasen featured in the top 10 strike rates against spin last year, and then you have Head, who has a tremendous overall record against them (30/141).
Weaknesses
Lacklustre Finishing: SRH has dished out the least proportion of their purse to finishers, and it shows in the outcome. Abhinav Manohar is a tremendous talent coming off a great KCSA tournament but has yet to be a proven entity on the bigger stage. This is a bigger problem, given that his finishing partner is also short of big-match performances.
Cummins is a good option to come at 8, but one can’t pin a team’s finishing duties on him.
Death Bowling Blues: T Natarajan was the team’s star bowler of 2024, and to be more specific, it was in the death overs that he worked his magic. With him gone, the replacements SRH has bought don’t seem promising. Shami isn’t known for his death exploits. Harshal is a specialist over there, but his economy over the last few years is concerning, and one can never be sure about Cummins when it comes to T20s.
