Abdul Samad, age: 20; Marco Jansen, age: 21; Abhishek Sharma, age: 21; Umran Malik, age: 22; Washington Sundar, age: 22 — the list goes on. At the IPL Mega Auction this year, Sunrisers Hyderabad was clear about one goal: pick young legs to help the side in its quest for a second title. However, one wonders if in the quest for youth, SRH may have well landed itself a squad full of inexperience.
Its big bets on youth may not be the only gamble the Hyderabad team may have made this auction. In going big for Nicholas Pooran (Rs 10.75 crore), the team seems to have complete faith in his big-hitting ability despite Pooran himself having only a lukewarm IPL 2021. The team has also reposed faith in Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Rs 4.2 crore) despite the bowler himself returning extremely underwhelming performances in the league and for India — gamble number three.
That’s not to say Sunrisers Hyderabad have not valued good performances. In snagging Rahul Tripathi for a bank-breaking Rs 8.5 crore, the team has displayed its keenness on rewarding excellent IPL batting. Tripathi, one might recall, has been the bedrock of KKR’s batting in seasons past and bloomed last year, reaching his peak with an average of 38.25 in the season. Washington Sundar, even at Rs 8.75 crore, is also an excellent purchase simply on account of the utility he brings to any T20 side — four economical overs and solid batting, albeit at a questionable strike rate for T20s.
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Questions though, will be raised, on what exactly the SRH playing eleven will look like. There’s no doubt that third-ranked T20 international Aiden Markram (bargain buy at Rs 2.6 crore) will open (effectively replacing David Warner), but who will he open with? Kane Williamson? Can SRH afford two marquee players right at the top only to expose an inexperienced middle-order with little or no international experience?
Given all the money paid for Nicholas Pooran, there’s every indication that the team expects him to be a regular and possibly keep wickets too. But if the team picks Markram, Williamson and Pooran, can it afford to pick the lone international pacer in Marco Jansen or Sean Abbott neither of whom is an experienced pacer anyway?
Can the team sustain itself with a bowling attack comprising Natarajan, Bhuvneswar, Umran Malik, Washington Sundar and one of either Jansen or Abbott? The problems with experience — the lack of it — is writ large on this team.
Another burning question is: what will Washtington Sundar’s role be? Bowler who can bat a bit at number eight or good enough to play in one of the batting slots? If it’s the latter, there’s no denying that Sundar will be expected to strike the ball better. A T20 average of 20.61 with a strike rate of 118.63 isn’t good enough for anyone in the top 7.
Team SRH knows full well that it has placed risky bets on quite a few players, choosing to bank on the vitality of their youth. However, champion sides are the ones that place winnable bets and come out on top consistently. It’s fair to say that we’ll have to wait for IPL 2022 to being to see whether the Sunrisers Hyderabad will taste the fruits of their faith in youth. But until such time a fair assessment of their side would be that they may have placed a bet too many on inexperience.
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