The 2016-champions Sunrisers Hyderabad wasn’t seen doing too much activity in the auction. They had released 5 players and managed to rope in 7 new faces. They didn’t go for any big names as the Orange Army already has a pretty settled squad. Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh was their biggest buy for INR 2 crore. Let’s take a look at the Best XI for Sunrisers Hyderabad for IPL 2020.

A solid top order

Kane Williamson is the captain of the team for the last 2 years after David Warner was banned for the infamous ball-tampering incident. Warner missed the entire season of 2018. In his absence, Williamson did a brilliant job both with the bat and the captaincy. However, when Warner returned in 2019, Williamson found it hard to stay in the line-up because of the limit of 4 overseas players in the XI.

Jonny Bairstow had accompanied Warner at the top and the duo formed a deadly opening pair. SRH had a world-class all-rounder in Shakib Al Hasan as well. To accommodate him, Williamson kept himself out of the team and Bhuvneshwar Kumar led the team in his absence. But Shakib has been banned from playing for a year and as a result, SRH released him. So, it gives an opportunity to Williamson to bat at No.3 behind Warner and Bairstow.

A mix of experience and youth in the bowling

Sunrisers have a dependable middle-order batsman – Manish Pandey. He can play the holding job as well as up the ante when needed. Vijay Shankar is a useful all-rounder. He is a solid middle-order batsman who would look to redeem himself for the highest level. Plus, he can give you a few overs with the ball too. To finish the batting charts, they can have someone like Abhishek Sharma who is a dasher. If they decide to bring in Mohammad Nabi or Mitchell Marsh for the death overs, Williamson might have to sit out. Both Nabi and Marsh would provide a helping hand with the ball too.

Rashid Khan is a certainty in the line-up. He has emerged as one of the top bowlers in the league in the last couple of years. But that’s not all. He is well equipped to bat at No.7. In the past in IPL and very recently in the Big Bash League, he has played some quickfire cameos during the slog overs.

Having Bhuvneshwar at No.8 gives them the option to play 5 proper batsmen at the top. Both Rashid and Bhuvneshwar are no mugs with the bat and can chip in with crucial runs on occasions. Bhuvneshwar is a superb bowler both with the new ball as well as at the death. The pacer will be under the scanner too as he could be a critical member for India for the T20 World Cup.

Shahbaz Nadeem should be the second spinner in the side. He has plenty of experience and would be great on turning tracks. For the 2 slots of the pacers, it would be a toss-up amongst Khaleel Ahmed, Siddharth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma. These 3 Indian pacers can be rotated during the course of the tournament.

Best XI for Sunrisers Hyderabad for IPL 2020

David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddharth Kaul, Shahbaz Nadeem

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