Although they played their first season only in 2013, Sunrisers Hyderabad has done better than some of the teams which have been present since the league’s inception. The replacement of Deccan Chargers in IPL, SRH won the tournament in 2016 and have reached the playoffs ever since, including ending up as runners-up in 2018. In this article, we take a look at the all-time best Sunrisers Hyderabad XI in IPL history.
Openers: David Warner (C) and Shikhar Dhawan
The highest overseas run-getter in IPL history, David Warner has been the face of SRH for a few years now. With the Orange Army, the Aussie has won the Orange Cap thrice, more than any other IPL cricketer. He won it in 2015, 2017 and 2019. As a captain, Warner led SRH to its first title in 2016. Hence, he also captains this all-time best Sunrisers Hyderabad XI in IPL history.
Partnering with Warner will be another IPL legend – Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan has scored over 5500 runs in IPL, and 2518 of these runs have come when he played for SRH. Dhawan is the second-highest run-getter in IPL so far, just behind Virat Kohli. The Delhi opener also led SRH in 16 games.
Middle-Order: Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, and Naman Ojha (WK)
Brought for a whopping sum of INR 11 crore at the IPL 2018 auctions, Manish Pandey has been underwhelming for the franchise so far. Yet, he happens to be the fourth-highest run-scorer for SRH till now. Hence, he features in this all-time best Sunrisers Hyderabad XI in IPL history.
In one of the steals of IPL history, SRH hired the services of Kane Williamson for just INR 60 lakhs in IPL 2015. Since then, he has been with the franchise and led them to multiple victories. In 2018, he won the Orange Cap, the same season in which he captained the team to the finals.
Naman Ojha played 56 games for the franchise as a wicket-keeper. He hardly got opportunities to feature with the bat. Nevertheless, he scored 584 runs for them at a strike rate of 120. Compared to the other domestic wicket-keepers, Naman was decent for the franchise.
All-Rounders: Yuvraj Singh
SRH have had issues of balance in the XI for a while now. A reason for this has been the absence of a quality all-rounder on the side. Yuvraj Singh was not an established all-rounder in IPL, but he takes up a spot in this department for SRH. While he scored 488 runs in 22 games, Yuvi was able to collect just a solitary wicket for SRH. His most memorable performance was in the final of IPL 2016, where he made 38 runs of 23 deliveries and swayed the momentum towards SRH.
Bowlers: Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dale Steyn, Siddharth Kaul and Amit Mishra
SRH has traditionally been a bowling-heavy team. Hence, we have five specialist bowlers for this all-time best Sunrisers Hyderabad XI in IPL history. Rashid Khan and Amit Mishra will be part of a strong spin attack for this XI. Rashid is the second-highest wicket-taker for SRH, with 85 scalps in 69 games at a strike rate of 19.3 and a stunning economy of 6.23. On the other hand, the highest wicket-taking spinner in IPL history, Amit Mishra has taken 30 wickets for the franchise. When SRH was founded, it was Mishra who led the team’s spin attack.
In the pace department, we have Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dale Steyn and Siddharth Kaul. Purple Cap winner in 2016 and 2017, Bhuvi is the team’s highest wicket-taker and also captained the franchise in a few games. Steyn represented SRH in 43 encounters and returned with 39 scalps at an average of 29.23. With 48 wickets for SRH so far, Kaul is the franchise’s third-highest wicket-taker. Winner of the 2008 U19 World Cup, Kaul’s impressive performances for SRH got him a spot in Team India.
