Since winning its only IPL trophy in 2016 under David Warner’s leadership, Hyderabad has always made it to the play-offs but failed to come out on top. Having retained its core group of players for the upcoming season and added a few back-up options to its settled unit, SRH would be keen to go the distance.

Hyderabad possesses a balanced squad with a fantastic top-order. Owning the likes of Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey and Wriddhiman Saha, SRH has one of the most destructive batting line-ups on paper in IPL 2021.

However, its lower middle-order is an area of concern. Pinning its hopes on the young trio of Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma and Abdul Samad in the last edition in the UAE, Hyderabad didn’t make the most of the middle overs. But, it would be encouraged by the return of Vijay Shankar from injury and the addition of Kedar Jadhav.

It remains to be seen if the latter can prove his worth as he is short of match practice. SRH also has overseas all-rounders Jason Holder and Mohammad Nabi in its ranks. While Holder was an integral part of the team towards the fag end of IPL 2020, Nabi found it difficult to break into the playing eleven.

Moving on to the bowling department, Hyderabad is blessed with a lot of game-changers. Comeback man Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan will spearhead the attack, which also comprises fast bowlers Thangarasu Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma and Khaleel Ahmed.

In case any of the frontline bowlers are unavailable, SRH can turn to pacer Basil Thampi and spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman. But, the franchise will have a hard time while picking its four overseas players in the eleven since skipper Warner and Rashid are automatic selections.

Having qualified for the last-four stage for six successive years, Hyderabad is expected to come up with another good show in IPL 2021 that begins in Chennai on April 9.