IPL 2024 Auction Analysis: Sunrisers Hyderabad to rely on World Cup winners Cummins and Head to rediscover lost glory

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) were  one of the franchises who dominated the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 player auction. SRH were in need of tweaks in the batting and spin bowling departments following the departures of Harry Brook and Adil Rashid. SRH were the second-best in terms of spending at the IPL 2024 auction, having spent a whopping Rs 30.80 crore.

Read: Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and other top buys in IPL 2024 Auction

This was just behind Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) spending of 31.85 crore. One common factor behind the two teams’ spending was an Australia pacer going for more than Rs 20 crore. SRH secured the services of Australia skipper Pat Cummins for Rs 20.50 crore, whereas Mitchell Starc became the most expensive buy in history of the IPL when he was acquired by KKR for Rs 24.75 crore.

Also read: Sunrisers Hyderabad final squad after IPL 2024 Auction

We now take a look at SRH’s pre-auction gaps, best and worst buy among more aspects from the IPL 2024 auction:

Pre-auction gaps

An overseas top-order batter, an overseas pacer and a foreign spinner were on top of SRH’s priority list ahead of the 2024 IPL player auction. Harry Brook had been released by SRH after an underwhelming IPL 2023, and so was his England teammate Adil Rashid, who failed to fill the void left by Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan.

It’s safe to say that SRH have in fact filled in these gaps, with each of them being marquee signings who are proven match winners.

Strengths

Getting in Australia skipper Pat Cummins for a whopping amount of Rs 20.50 crore was a huge boost for Sunrisers Hyderabad, given the fact that SRH were looking for an experienced pacer as a backup for Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Both Bhuvneshwar and T Natarajan have been prone to injuries recently and it was paramount that SRH needed an overseas pacer.

Another World Cup winner Travis Head was also acquired by SRH for Rs 6.80 crore. SRH needed an explosive batting option following Harry Brook’s underwhelming performance and Head might be the perfect answer for that.

SRH lacked a wrist spinner following the departures of Adil Rashid and Akeal Hosein and Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga was one of the favourites to go to SRH. Hasaranga, who has previously plied trade for RCB, was acquired for Rs 1.50 crore and might seem as a bargain given his international experience as well as playing across leagues in the world.

Weaknesses

On paper, this new-look SRH side may not have much weaknesses, but one concern is that of Abdul Samad’s place in the playing XI. Samad has endured a few disappointing seasons in the past and the 2023 season was ordinary, having scored 169 runs from nine matches. He has failed to fire on most occasions, and barring an unbeaten 37 against Lucknow Super Giants, there was nothing extraordinary about the Jammu and Kashmir cricketer as he struggled for consistency.

Best buy

SRH made not one, but two best buys, and this is where Australia’s World Cup-winning duo of Cummins and Head comes in. As said before, both are proven match-winners and both need no introductions to what they offer to the table. If SRH are to contend for the title this season, it’s going to be upto this duo to step up and deliver, given that they know a thing or two about winning.

Worst buy

Jaydev Unadkat might have become SRH’s worst buy ahead of IPL 2024. Unadkat, who was bought for Rs 1.60 crore, has not had anything much significant over the last couple of IPL seasons. Lack of game time at LSG and MI in 2023 and 2022 meant that Unadkat would have gone at risk of being unsold, but SRH seems to have put faith in him to perform. Only time will tell when Unadkat gets a game, given SRH’s depth of pacers in the squad including Umran Malik, Bhuvneshwar and Natarajan apart from Cummins.

Players bought by SRH at IPL 2024 Auction: Travis Head (Rs 6.80 crore), Wanindu Hasaranga (Rs 1.50 crore), Pat Cummins (Rs 20.50 crore), Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 1.60 crore), Akash Maharaj Singh (Rs 20 lakh), Jhatavedh Subramanyan (Rs 20 lakh)

SRH full squad: Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Anmolpreet Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Glenn Phillips, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Mayank Agarwal, Mayank Markande, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rahul Tripathi, Sanvir Singh, Shahbaz Ahamad (T), T. Natarajan, Umran Malik, Upendra Singh Yadav, Washington Sundar, Travis Head, Wanindu Hasaranga, Pat Cummins, Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Maharaj Singh, Jhatavedh Subramanyan

Remaining purse: Rs 3.20 crore

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