IPL 2018: Biggest weakness of each franchise

#8 Sunrisers Hyderabad- The lower middle order

Dhawan and Warner will be hoping that the middle order batsmen take some pressure off them

The Sunrisers Hyderabad have retained their successful opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner. They shelled out INR 11 crores to secure the services of Manish Pandey. They also retained the services of ace Kiwi batsman, Kane Williamson. Their bowling department includes prime T20 bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan and they have excellent Indian youngsters such as Sandeep Sharma, Basil Thampi, Syed Ahmed and Siddarth Kaul.

Their only concern, if any, is their lower middle order. Shakib Al Hasan featured in just one game last year. He hasn't been very effective with the bat in the IPL, having notched up under 500 runs in its entirety. Wriddhiman Saha scored 234 runs in 14 games last season at an ordinary average of 125.13. Deepak Hooda didn't get too many opportunities to bat last season, and his highest score last season was just 19. Yusuf Pathan is a mere shadow of his former self and he could rack up just 143 runs last season in 15 games at a strike rate of under 125. Mohammad Nabi has done well for Afghanistan but is inexperienced in the IPL and Carlos Braithwaite has been underwhelming with the bat in the IPL.

If their lower middle order clicks, the Sunrisers will be the team to beat this IPL.