IPL 2019: 5 players who could be released by Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad team is known for their strong bowling attack that can cause nightmares even to the best of the batsmen. The team's bowling department has always delivered and defended paltry totals on innumerable occasions.

They won their first title in 2016, thanks to their stacked bowling lineup that dismantled oppositions and caused serious problems. The batting lineup led by Warner and Dhawan toyed with the opposition bowlers and helped post big totals.

In the 2017 season, they entered the playoffs but lost in the qualifier-1 to the Knight Riders and in the last season, they continued their form from previous years and reached the finals. The team led by Kane Williamson destroyed the opposing teams with their all-round performances throughout the season. However, they were unfortunate to lose in the finals against the Chennai Super Kings who were back in the IPL after 2-year hiatus.

Through the course of this article, let us take a look at five players Sunrisers Hyderabad should release from the team to get back to winning ways.

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#5 Yusuf Pathan

Yusuf Pathan is not the same player he once was

Yusuf Pathan is a name that needs no introduction. On his day, the explosive all-rounder can smash even the best of the bowlers all around the park and has the ability to change the outcome of the game single-handedly.

The 11-year IPL veteran is known widely for his role with the Kolkata Knight Riders. His best performances came with KKR and played a very crucial role in KKR's title-winning seasons. His all-round presence helped the team immensely and he became one of the mainstays of the team.

After spending seven seasons with KKR, he was not retained and was subsequently bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad in last year's auction. The Baroda all-rounder scored 260 runs in 15 innings at a strike-rate of 130.0 and played crucial knocks down the order. He bowled only two overs as he was on a team that was already stacked with terrific bowlers.

However, with age catching up to him, he is not the same player he once was and is struggling to hit sixes. A lot of times, Pathan is getting out because of the lack of timing and power. SRH needs a power-hitting all-rounder who can whack the ball and send the ball to second tier without any difficulty. It is time that the team looks beyond Pathan and get a youngster who can lift the team's overall-profile.

#4 Shreevats Goswami

Shreevats Goswami failed to capitalise on the opportunities

Shreevats Goswami's name came into the spotlight when he became one of the key contributors for India in the Under-19 World Cup in 2008. The top order batsman played some valuable knocks and helped India win the title.

He earned his IPL cap very early at the age of just 19 when the Royal Challengers Bangalore bought him in 2008. After playing in the first seven seasons and on three teams, he went unsold because of his repeated failures. He only scored 241 runs in 23 matches during his first seven-year IPL stint.

In the last year's auction, he was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad because of his strong performances in India A team. However, Goswami failed to impress and scored just 52 runs in six innings.

He did not give stability at the top of the order and threw his wicket cheaply on multiple occasions. In the very important IPL finals, he scored just 5 runs before getting run-out. It is highly likely that SRH releases Goswami and watches out for another consistent wicket-keeping batsman in this year's auction.

#3 Deepak Hooda

Deepak Hooda had a forgettable season

Deepak Hooda announced his arrival in style when he slammed a century on Ranji debut and became only the second Baroda player to do so. The all-rounder was also one of the key players in the 2014 Under-19 team.

The Baroda Ranji player came into the IPL because of his hard-hitting ability that helps him clear the boundary ropes with ease. He was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2016 IPL auction and contributed with some crucial runs in the death overs.

In the bowling department, he picked up just 3 wickets but was economical. SRH went on to win the title that year. However, he failed to perform in the last two seasons and combined for just 165 runs in 19 innings.

Although there is a perennial demand for a lower-order batsman who can bowl, Hooda has been given a lot of opportunities and his continuous failures are only damaging the team's chances of winning the title. It is high time SRH looks for some other hard-hitting all-rounder this season and release Hooda to play for some other team.

#2 Wriddhiman Saha

Saha's terrible performances

puts

his place on the chopping block

Wriddhiman Saha is arguably one of the best Indian wicketkeepers at this moment. The Bengali cricketer has played in the IPL in all eleven seasons, though on different teams. Saha's most prolific season came in 2014 with the Kings XI Punjab.

He scored 362 runs that year at a strike-rate of 145.38. He will be remembered fondly for his 115* off 55 balls in the finals against KKR. However, Knight Riders chased it down, on the back of Manish Pandey's 94 and it ended in a heart-breaking loss for Saha.

After a not-so-great season with the Kings XI Punjab, he was selected by the Sunrisers for Rs 5 crores. However, he performed terribly and scored just 122 runs in 11 innings at an average of just 15.25. His high-score was just 35 and it shows how terrible his form was last season.

Their backup keeper Shreevats Goswami also did not perform the way SRH would have liked him to, and Hyderabad lost to CSK in the finals.

#1 Manish Pandey

Manish Pandey failed miserably in the last year's IPL

You guessed it, didn't you? There were a lot of rumblings regarding Manish Pandey when the Sunrisers Hyderabad bought him for Rs 11 crores in the last year's IPL auction. The Karnataka player came into the limelight when he clobbered the bowlers all around to confirm Royal Challengers Bangalore's berth in the semi-finals in the second edition of the IPL.

However, Pandey failed to deliver for Sunrisers. He was arguably one of the most out of form player on the team and faced the wrath of Hyderabad fans. He scored only 284 runs in 15 innings at an average of 25.81. He hit three half-centuries and those were the only note-worthy innings he has played last year.

The number 4 batsman failed to perform in the very crucial qualifier-1 and was subsequently removed from the team. He did not feature in the playing XI for qualifier-2 and the finals, quite understandably.

One thing that has been bothering SRH over the years has been their number middle-order batsmen performance. Though the duo of Warner and Dhawan always gave the kind of starts they should have gotten, they failed to score big because of lack of consistency in their middle-order.

Albeit their bowlers have delivered quite well over the years, it is their middle-order that has played a key role in losing matches they should have won and therefore, they might need to release Manish Pandey, who is struggling and is inconsistent, and get a reliable batsman and fortify the slot.