Team composition
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Total EFscore of top 11 players: 1.106
Total EFscore of all ranked players: 1.195
Sunrisers Hyderabad are the surprise top team as per our rating system. They made it to the knock-out stage in their very first season, and their good run should continue this year as well. They retained only two of their players before the player auction: Shikhar Dhawan and Dale Steyn. In the auction itself, they spent a substantial amount of money, nearly 6.16 MM dollars. However, they spread out this money over a number of quality players – as many as 12 players got a payout of at least 100K dollars. They were able to bring back two key players from the previous squad, Amit Mishra and Darren Sammy. In the resulting team, the top eleven players all have an overall rank of less than 60 as per our rating system, which is quite impressive.
Sunrisers are loaded in both batting and bowling. They have an explosive combination of Dhawan and Warner at the top of their batting order, and they will most likely open the innings together. They have one of the best finishers in the T20 format in Darren Sammy. Steyn and Ishant Sharma will spearhead the fast bowling department, while Amit Mishra and Sammy will be expected to keep the batsmen in check with their spin bowling.
Roster management: Wicketkeeper is the only spot where they are somewhat weak. Naman Ojha and Brendan Taylor and the two primary options for the backstop. However, Taylor’s inclusion in the team will be tricky given that there are other players knocking the door for the four spots for overseas players – Steyn, Sammy, Warner, Finch and Hilfenhaus. Managing the roster will be the biggest challenge for the team throughout the tournament.
Dark horse: In a team full of proven performers, it is hard to pick a dark horse. However, David Warner is certainly one of the players to watch out. He wasn’t that bad in the previous season, but didn’t perform at the level that was expected of him. However, he has been in a tremendous form in the international circuit since the start of this year, and Sunrisers will be hoping for him to carry this form into the IPL as well.