The Orange Army have reached the play-offs only once since 2013 and will be hoping that some new names in the squad can take bolster their side this year.

Just like the Pune squad, the Hyderabad squad will have the experience of three international skippers in Kane Williamson, Eoin Morgan and current skipper David Warner. Indian players such as Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra will also add tremendous experience to the side while ex-Sunrisers skipper Shikhar Dhawan will be looking to get back into form.

How did the auctions go for them?

Sunrisers Hyderabad are a team who have always made the right choices in the auctions. This year was no different, as they made some key buys in Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra and Mustafizur Rahman who are fresh from their World Cup campaign.

The additions of Nehra and Mustafizur can turn out to be a masterstroke as both were the top performers in the bowling charts for India and Bangladesh respectively.

Even the uncapped players picked were a very impressive lot with Aditya Tare, Deepak Hooda, T Suman performing very well in the domestic circuit. Barinder Sran, who represented India against Australia was also picked to bolster the bowling attack.

Strengths:

The major strength that the Hyderabad squad have is that they have covered all bases. While the batting is led by an explosive pair in Warner and Dhawan, the bowling is led by the wily Ashish Nehra.

The middle order is also very strong with the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Kane Williamson comprising it. The bowling line-up is also settled with Ashish Nehra leading the pack along with premier pacer Trent Boult or the clever, subtle changes in pace from Mustafizur Rahman.

Weaknesses:

The factor playing in the Sunrisers think-tank would be the missing lead spinner. Although the roster boasts of tremendous pace bowlers, the role of a lead spinner will be heavily missed.

Karn Sharma has been very good for them, but if he has an off-day, the captain will have to turn to Yuvraj Singh, who hasn’t had a great outing with the ball in recent times and is battling an injury concern.

Franchise details :

Owner : Kalanidhi Maran (Sun TV Networks)

Captain : David Warner

Home : Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad

History : 2013 - Playoffs, 2014 - 6th position, 2015 - 6th position

Sunrisers Hyderabad schedule for IPL 9:

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