The Sunrisers Hyderabad were formed in 2012 as a result of the Indian Premier League (IPL) governing body terminating the contract of the Deccan Chargers. They, therefore, retained some 20 players for the 2013 edition of the tournament from the Charger’s squad and then brought in stars like Thisara Perera, Darren Sammy, Nathan McCullum, Quinton de Kock and Clint McKay to boost their squad further.
What was impressive was that the franchise made it to the playoffs in their very first edition of the tournament. But they lost the eliminator match against the now defunct Rajasthan Royals by 4 wickets.
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The next two seasons, the Orange Army failed to get past the group stages and finished sixth both times. But in 2016 led by their captain David Warner the team bounced back in some style and took home the glittering trophy beating Royal Challenger’s Bangalore in the finals.
For the 2017 edition of the tourney, SRH have retained 17 players and released 6 from the previous season. Due to this effort, SRH Spent Rs.451 million (US$6.7 million) and kept a balance of Rs.209 million (US$3.1 million).
However, surely the success would not have come their way if they did not spend the moolah. In this article, we will look at the five most expensive buys by the Sunrisers. We have not included top buys for Deccan Chargers whom the Sunrisers replaced.
#5 Amit Mishra (US $710,125)
To boost their spin department Mishra was bought in the 2014 auction of the league. But during that period the legspinner was going through a rough patch and was not the fierce wicket-taker that he is usually.
Mishra, however, tried hard to impress the owners with his variations and skill set. But as luck would have it he only picked up 7 wickets in the edition from 10 outings. His average was 48.57 and had a high economy rate of 9.06.
The team management wasn’t too impressed with his performances and decided to let him go in 2015. His performance improved and he was lapped up by Delhi Daredevils once again.
#4 David Warner (US$820,000)
Warner was bought by the Hyderabad franchise in 2014 even though he had a hefty price tag attached to him. The team mentored by VVS Laxman needed a swashbuckling opener to help them get off to fliers. And Warner did precisely that.
In2015 Warner managed to score 562 runs from 14 matches but could not help his team qualify for the playoffs. However, last year he led from the front as a captain by tonking it to all parts of the ground with his bat.
At times he was devastating but on several occasions, he donned the hat of a sheet anchor. The 30-year-old smashed 848 runs in 17 games last year with a mean of 60.57. He scored 9 fifties in the tournament with a best score of 93 not out.
In the final, it was Warner’s 69 of 38 balls which paved the way for the Sunrisers to get to a massive 208/7 in 20 overs. This season too he will be a key player for the franchise who have high hopes of defending the trophy.
#3 Ashish Nehra (US$820,000)
Nehra was up for grabs in the 2016 IPL auction as Chennai Super Kings were suspended. The Sunrisers had struggled with their death bowling and decided to rope in the veteran with a huge amount.
He had been a revelation for the Super Kings and last year he tried hard to replicate that form for his new owners. The left-arm pacer succeeded too as he picked up nine wickets from eight games at an average of 22.11 and an economy rate of 7.65 but then tragedy struck.
Nehra suffered a hamstring injury just before the playoffs and was ruled out for the rest of the tournament. Though the Sunrisers missed his services they managed to win the league some how.
Having been a regular now for the Indian team in T20s, Nehra will look to get going from game one of the new season and hopefully will be able to give the Hyderabad franchise early breakthroughs again.
#2 Yuvraj Singh (US$1.0 million)
After a disappointing campaign for Delhi Daredevils who paid a whopping 16 crores to have him in the squad in 2015, Yuvraj was set free. The Sunrisers did not want to lose the opportunity of grabbing hold of the talisman and thus they coughed up around 7 crores for the talismanic all-rounder.
The World Cup winner started off with some breezy knocks for the Hyderabad-based team but then got injured and had to sit out a few games.
When he returned to the side, Yuvraj wasn’t at his fluent best and struggled to get going in most of the matches. However, being the fighter that he is, he stayed put in the playing XI and came up with a quickfire 23-ball 38 in the final.
Overall, Yuvraj scored 236 runs from 10 games averaging 26.22 with the bat. He however boasted of a strike rate of 131.84. This year, the Sunrisers have retained Yuvraj with the hope that he will be able to provide a lot more fireworks and with the form that he is in he will be raring to go in the tournament.
#1 Shikhar Dhawan (US$1.4 million)
The Sunrisers went all out for the dashing left-hander in 2014. The franchise knew they needed someone to get them off to a flyer in the first five overs and who better than him.
After spending time with the Mumbai Indians and the Deccan Chargers, Dhawan initially struggled a bit for the Sunrisers.
Only a handful of times he got them off on a canter but mostly he would score a brisk 20, 25 and then get out. In 2014 and 2015 he averaged 29.00 and 27.15 with the bat respectively which is relatively quite low for a batsman of Dhawan’s calibre.
He finally did find some mojo in the 2016 edition of the league where he amassed 501 runs from 17 games at an average of 38.53. The Delhi-born batsman also scored four fifties in the league.
Dhawan also chipped in with a vital 28 in the final as his side beat RCB by 8 runs. But so far, his performances have not been worth of the money that Sunrisers have splashed on him.
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