IPL 2023 Season Review: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

Sunrisers Hyderabad with 4 wins in 14 matches, finished IPL 2023 with 8 points at 10th position.

Everyone was looking at Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) with a huge expectations this season under new captain Aiden Markram. Hyderabad since the mega auction have been in trouble. They finished two back-to-back seasons around the bottom of the table. Sunrisers franchise were hopeful of a challenging performance from their team after winning the SA20. Markram was given the leadership in IPL 2023 after SRH released Kane Williamson from the team due to his outstanding leadership in the SA20. Hyderabad, despite having gun T20 players have failed to create any magic. Having spent enormous amounts on Harry Brook, SRH could not create a balanced eleven to tackle others. On many occasions, SRH looked under pressure, from batting to bowling they could not live up to their expectations.

In the batting order, only Heinrich Klassen took responsibility for most of the games, no other batter was able to support him. On many occasions, SRH looked strong and in a winning position yet their failed batting line-up panicked to gain the advantage. New ball bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar also was not at his best of rhythm and SRH lacked their biggest advantage this season, wickets in the powerplay. Umran Malik also missed out on a few games due to some unknown issues. SRH were a clear example of why a handful of players can win you only a few games and not the entire tournament. This was for the second time in the last three seasons that SRH finished at the bottom.

Fact Sheet:

Sunrisers Hyderabad won the wooden spoon as they finished 10th in the points table with only 8 points and 4 wins in their 14 league games. Hyderabad’s NRR was -0.590 as they were inconsistent and failed to get their campaign on track.

Top Performers:

Leading run-scorer - Heinrich Klassen:

South African wicket-keeper Heinrich Klassen was a find for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2023. Heinrich Klassen was the rescuer for SRH most of the times but nobody from the other end stood by him in the batting. Klassen in 12 games scored 448 runs at an average of 49.77 with a strike rate of 177.07 which was outstanding. Klassen smashed a century and 2 fifties this season. His numbers are enough to suggest his role in the SRH camp.

Leading wicket-taker - Bhuvneshwar Kumar:

Known for picking up wickets in the powerplay, Bhuvneshwar Kumar failed to create his magic with the new ball this season. Bhuvi did a decent job with the ball but he failed to provide early breakthroughs. Bhuvi in 14 games picked up 16 wickets at a decent economy rate of 8.33. Just like Heinrich Klassen, Bhuvi also lacked support from the other end to create pressure.

The Underperformer of the Season

Rahul Tripathi

There were huge expectations from Rahul Tripathi in the batting order after his brilliant season with the bat in the IPL 2022 and in domestic cricket. Tripathi failed to convert his starts into big scores on multiple occasions. In 13 games, he scored 273 runs. His strike rate looked a little on the poor side with just 128 and not doing justice to his talent. Tripathi got the opportunity to bat long but he looked under pressure and threw his wickets away many times this season.

T Natarajan

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s yorker specialist looked out of rhythm and slightly lower in pace. Known for his brute toe-crushing Yorkers Natarajan looked experimenting with his length in the IPL 2023. He also paid a price for his experiment as he could only pick 10 wickets in 12 games. His economy rate was 9.11.

Special mentions

Leg-spinner Mayank Markande tried to play the role of partnership breaker in the SRH camp just like what Piyush Chawla did for Mumbai Indians. Markande once again showed his prowess as a wrist spinner. Hyderabad’s wicket was also a little favourable for his bowling style. Mayank played 10 games for Sunrisers Hyderabad and picked up 12 wickets.

Top team performance

SRH spent a huge amount on Harry Brook in the IPL Auction 2023. Brook was a big disappointment for SRH apart from his only one inning that came against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens. Brook smashed 100 in 55 balls to power SRH for a mammoth total of 228. Kolkata put up a great challenge but Hyderabad managed to defeat KKR by 23 runs.

Captain’s report card

After winning the SA20, Aiden Markram had huge expectations and responsibility on his shoulder. Markram’s first experience as an IPL captain did not come well for him. Markram failed as a leader as well as a batter. Winner of the SA20 with Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Markram could not motivate his team, his men to take responsibility when needed. Markram in 13 games has scored only 248 runs.

Lessons to be learned

Sunrisers Hyderabad need a better strategy during the auction. Despite spending big on English Harry Brook, Hyderabad got a few decent T20 specialists but Hyderabad’s management could not get the best out of these men. Aiden Markram is a decent option as a leader, he needs support from his team to replicate what SRH did in the year of 2016.