IPL 2018: How Sunrisers Hyderabad could lineup for their first game of the season

After ten wonderful years, the Indian Premier League witnessed one of the biggest shakeups in its history. Most of the players went under the hammer as only a handful were retained.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad went into the auction having retained last year's orange cap and purple cap winners, i.e., David Warner and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and came out of the auction as one of the happiest teams.

They managed to use their RTM on stars Rashid Khan and Shikhar Dhawan. Many critics are even terming Sunrisers the strongest squad on paper. Without further ado, let's take a look at their probable playing eleven in the upcoming edition of the IPL.

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Openers

David Warner & Shikhar Dhawan

No surprises here. Over the last few years, the left-handed duo have proven themselves to be among the best opening partnerships in IPL.

In the last three editions, Warner has bagged the orange cap twice and finished runner-up to Virat Kohli once. He is arguably the finest opener IPL has seen and his consistency has been priceless for Hyderabad.

The Australian leads from the front and has captained the Sunrisers to a title in 2016 as well.

Dhawan has been the perfect partner in crime to Warner. He starts slow and rotates strike frequently, allowing his captain to notch up runs quickly at the other end. The pair have put together numerous 50-run stands, providing the Sunrisers with ideal starts on many occasions.

Middle-order

Manish Pandey, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper)

Manish Pandey will be looking to justify his hefty INR 11 crore price tag

The Sunrisers splurged INR 11 crore to obtain the services of Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey. The former KKR batsman has been extremely consistent with the bat over the years and has become a regular feature in Indian colours as well.

After the dynamic opening partnership of Warner and Dhawan is broken, the versatile Pandey would be the ideal one-down who could come on to the crease and bat as per the situation demands. His match-winning knock in the 2014 final shows his maturity as well as his ability to pace the innings appropriately.

The other fine performance in 2014 final came from Wriddhiman Saha, who became the first batsman to score a century in an IPL final. His fine hundred might have gone in vain, but he proved a point that day. Saha is excellent with the gloves as well and is a regular in the Indian Test squad.

All-rounders

Shakib Al Hasan, Deepak Hooda & Mohammad Nabi

Shakib Al Hasan is the No. 1 ranked T20 all-rounder

Shakib Al Hasan for a mere INR 2 crores could turn out to be one of the steals of the auction. Both with bat and ball, Shakib has been instrumental in the past for the Knight Riders. The Sunrisers will be glad to have gotten him at a cheap price and will be hoping his effective spin-bowling and aggressive batting help them win matches.

Deepak Hooda is a valuable asset to have owing to his all-round capabilities. He can slog the ball and is effective lower down the order in the death overs. He is a handy part-time spinner and can bowl when required.

Mohammad Nabi is an Afghani all-rounder, who is in form. He is ranked third on the list of all-rounders in T20s. With the bat, he can score runs at an incredible rate and would fit in the Sunrisers batting lineup perfectly in the lower half. His right-arm off-break bowling has proven to be very effective in terms of economy.

Bowlers

Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma

19-year-old Rashid Khan is in the form of his life

Rashid Khan is in the form of his life right now and is the no. 1 ranked ODI bowler after he managed to bag 16 wickets in just 5 games against Zimbabwe. He was in tremendous form in the Big Bash as well and will surely be one of the better bowlers in IPL 2018.

The pace department in the Sunrisers camp is filled with spectacular bowlers. Spearheading their attack will be Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has won the last two purple caps and is favourite to win it for the third time in a row. To fill the other two slots, the Sunrisers have some great options to chose from - Siddharth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma, Syed Khaleel Ahmad and Basil Thampi.

Kaul was excellent for the Sunrisers last year, having bagged 16 wickets, and has earned his spot in the starting eleven. Sandeep Sharma has proven himself to be one of the best powerplay bowlers and is vastly experienced in the IPL. He is likely to open the bowling with fellow swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Basil Thampi and Syed Khaleel Ahmad are bound to get opportunities over the course of the season too.

Probable starting eleven: David Warner (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Deepak Hooda, Mohammad Nabi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma