Can Sun Risers cope up without David Warner?

Into their sixth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) look a formidable unit after the 2018 IPL auction, despite having lost their banned skipper David Warner due to a ball-tampering scandal.

Warner, who admitted to pre-meditated ball tampering in the Cape Town Test against South Africa, was handed a 12-month ban by Cricket Australia and subsequently, the BCCI barred him from participating in the upcoming edition of the IPL, starting April 7. The absence of Warner, the highest run-getter in the 2017 edition, has no doubt come as a setback for the 2016 IPL champions and the onus is now on New Zealander Kane Williamson to steer the side to their second title. Despite warming the bench for a major part of the last edition, Williamson, with his experience of leading his national side, will need to instil the confidence in the side in the company of former skipper and opener Shikhar Dhawan, who also will be expected to shoulder more responsibility at the top of the order.

Among the two names to be retained by the Sunrisers before the auction along with Warner, is rightfully paceman Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the top wicket-taker in both the 2016 and 2017 editions. Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan too is expected to tweak some magic again.

English power-hitter Alex Hales, who was named as Warner's replacement will be valuable at the top of the order with Dhawan while the inclusion of wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha and Manish Pandey, will bolster the middle order. Saha, who recently scored a century off 20 balls in club cricket, has the potential to turn around matches in a matter of few deliveries, while the lower order comprising all-rounders Yusuf Pathan, Carlos Brathwaite and Shakib Al Hasan can be handy options with the bat.

The support staff consisting of Tom Moody, V.V.S.Laxman, Muttiah Muralitharan also adds to their strength.

Squad: Kane Williamson (Captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey, Rashid Khan Arman, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Sandeep Sharma, Shakib Al Hasan, Carlos Brathwaite, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Nabi Eisakhil, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Billy Stanlake, Siddharth Kaul, Deepak Hooda, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Shreevats Goswami, Basil Thampi, T. Natarajan, Bipul Sharma, Mehdi Hasan, Ricky Bhui, Sachin Baby, Tanmay Agarwal.

Captain Warner smashes Sun Risers into IPL playoffs

Gujarat Lions whimpered rather than roared in their final Indian Premier League match on Saturday, producing the worst collapse in the competition's history, before David Warner and Vijay Shankar clubbed Sunrisers Hyderabad into the playoffs.

The Lions will make way next season when Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals are readmitted to the tournament following two-year suspensions.

Gujarat will sadly be remembered for the wrong reasons, having crashed from 111 without loss to 154 all out at Green Park.

Sunrisers skipper Warner strolled through the subsequent run chase, such as it was, with 69 not out off 52 balls faced, as his team recorded an easy eight-wicket victory, secured with 11 balls remaining in Kanpur.

He had a willing ally in Shankar, who notched 63 from 44, both men finding the boundary nine times each, to make sure of a spot in the top four.

Having been put in to bat, Dwayne Smith (54) and Ishan Kishan (61) added rapid runs for Gujarat early on, before the former departed lbw attempting to pull Rashid Khan (3-34).

The loss of Ishan, who top-edged Mohammed Siraj (4-32) to wicket-keeper Naman Ojha, two overs later sparked a landmark calamity for the home team.

Big guns Suresh Raina (2), Dinesh Karthik (0) and Aaron Finch (2) all followed in quick succession, as Gujarat slumped from 111-1 to 123-5 in the space of just seven balls. 

Ravindra Jadeja (20 not out) provided some token resistance and remained unbeaten at the crease, but saw potential partners come and go with barely a pause.

Pradeep Sangwan, Ankit Soni and Munaf Patel all made ducks, with James Faulkner (8) and Praveen Kumar (1) faring only slightly better.


That underwhelming return left Sunrisers with a simple task, the loss of Shikhar Dhawan (18) and Moises Henriques (4) in one Kumar (2-22) over doing little to delay the inevitable.