“That’s a team that can win the IPL” - AB de Villiers reckons underperforming franchise has one of the strongest squads for upcoming season

Former South African batter AB de Villiers reckons that SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) have put together a squad that can go on to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the upcoming season. De Villiers opined that the SRH squad for IPL 2024 had a few match-winners ahead of the auction, which has increased with the addition of Pat Cummins, Travis Head, and Wanindu Hasaranga among others.

SRH made some big purchases at the IPL 2024 auction. They bought Cummins for ₹20.50 crore, Head for ₹6.8 crore, and Hasaranga for ₹1.5 crore.

While analyzing the SunRisers Hyderabad squad after the IPL 2024 auction, De Villiers described Hasaranga’s purchase for ₹1.5 crore as a steal.

“One of the biggest steals of the IPL. Wanindu Hasaranga, the Sri Lankan leg-spinner for ₹1.5 crore. That guy wins games. Every second game he plays, he does something special. This team was one of my favorite squads last season. They have only added to the squad with Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Unadkat, Hasaranga,” he said.

Making a big statement on the franchise that finished last in IPL 2023, De Villiers added:

“That’s a team that can win the IPL. I am not going to tell you that they will win the IPL. But, SunRisers Hyderabad for IPL 2024, watch out.”

The Hyderabad-based franchise, which debuted in the 2013 season, has won the IPL only once, in 2016. They have been eliminated in the league stage in the last three editions.

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“I would still go with Aiden Markram as captain” - AB de Villiers

With Australia’s World Cup-winning captain Cummins joining SRH, many pundits and fans believe that he could take over as skipper from Aiden Markram. De Villiers, however, backed the South African batter to continue as the leader.

“I would still go with Aiden Markram as captain. I’ve played with this guy before. He’s got a very good leadership brain on his head. I think he’ll do better this season and has a very good squad to work with. I don’t think the eight overseas players being big stars is a problem. They have a very good squad, well balanced. I think they are going to make the knockouts this year,” the former Proteas captain concluded.

SunRisers Hyderabad had a disastrous IPL 2023 season, winning only four and losing 10 of their 14 league matches.