The biggest danger for a championship winning side is to stand still; to think, "oh we have a title-winning team already, why bring in new faces, there is nothing we can improve upon." The Sunrisers Hyderabad will do well to make sure they do not stand still and make the needed improvements during the IPL 2017 auction on Monday.
RPS - what they need at the IPL auction
While they have a really strong squad already, capable of making it two IPL titles in a row, there are a few slots there to be filled, so making sure all the bases are covered, especially if the injury bug bites, will be the auction mantra.
So expect the Sunrisers Hyderabad owners and management to go into this auction with a few specific targets in mind, with SRH having the added advantage of having a fair chunk of money – Rs 20.9 crore to be exact – to spend.
Here is a look at what they need from the IPL 2017 player auction, and how their current squad, before the auction, looks.
Current squad: David Warner (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Moises Henriques, Ben Cutting, Naman Ojha, Siddarth Kaul, Bipul Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Abhimanyu Mithun, Mustafizur Rahman, Barinder Sran, Vijay Shankar, Ricky Bhui.
Players released: Karn Sharma, Ashish Reddy, Eoin Morgan, Trent Boult, T Suman, Aditya Tare.
Maximum number of players SRH can buy: 10 (four of them overseas).
Spinner: In the current squad, there is not one specialist spinner. SRH might have managed to get overs in from Bipul Sharma, Deepak Hooda and Yuvraj Singh in IPL 2016, but that alone will not do. Having released Karn Sharma, the leg-spinner, they need a proper slow bowler in the squad, be that an overseas one or an Indian.
Imran Tahir is a really good option SRH might look at. The South African was surprisingly released by the Delhi Daredevils, but in the limited-overs game he is one of most effective spinners in the world.
If what SRH are planning is a spinner who can bat a bit as well, Pawan Negi, the star of last year's auction, might be looked at, even if the better option could be Mitchell Santner, albeit an overseas one. M Ashwin and Pravin Tambe might not be bad options either.
Overseas fast bowler: With Boult released, SRH will not want to find themselves in a position where Mustafizur Rahman is injured, and they do not have any other foreign bowling options. Mustafizur is coming off a long-term injury, so they will want to make sure they have backup.
There are plenty of overseas bowling options in the auction list, so take your pick from Kagiso Rabada, Tymal Mills, Chris Jordan, Chris Woakes, Mitchell Johnson, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile and many more. Using the right to match option to bring Boult back might not be such a bad idea either.
Wicketkeeper: Naman Ojha is the only specialist wicketkeeper in the squad after Aditya Tare was released. So a backup wicketkeeper will be a priority. While their overseas options are quite strong, you never know, the Sunrisers might take a punt on foreign wicketkeeper, like a Mohammad Shahzad or Nicholas Pooran.
If they can buy someone like Jonny Bairstow for a good price, he might be a really good signing, as a replacement for Eoin Morgan in the squad and a wicketkeeping option if needed.
Should they go for Ben Stokes? SRH have the money and while Ben Cutting and Moises Henriques are good all-rounder options, there might be a case to go for Stokes. Because if they get the England all-rounder, the team will be all that more formidable and in prime position to defend their title.
