Some IPL teams have the tendency to evoke a sentiment of awe every time they assemble squads prior to a season – Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and the erstwhile Chennai Super Kings.
It’s almost as if there’s an aura that follows these teams everywhere they go, one that brings fans to their feet cheering. A part of this aura stems out of the sheer star power of their squads, while the rest of it is rooted in their performances both on the field and off it (as a brand).
But often one comes across teams like the Sunrisers Hyderabad, bereft of brand value and the wow factor – yet they end up punching above their weight consistently, all the time. Hyderabad’s success this year has been a testament to their ability to figure out the fundamentals of this competition and just a couple of more victories will help them shed their tag of the underrated performers.
While everyone talks about Bangalore’s resurgence in the competition, very few notice that after back-to-back losses in the first two games, Sunrisers won seven out of their next eight games over a span of three weeks – thereby strengthening their position in the middle stages of the competition and managing to do something very few teams are able to do in the IPL – making their home unbreachable.
It’s interesting to delve into some of the finer details of the Sunrisers campaign in a bid to decode the success factors that are driving the team.
#1 THE CORE
Captain David Warner has been a uniting force
When the franchise first came into the IPL fold in 2013, they largely inherited the Deccan Chargers squad. The crux of the unit was built around the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Dale Steyn and Shikhar Dhawan.
Although Sangakkara, the designated skipper at the start of the competition failed miserably, the team overachieved and reached the play-offs on the back of strong performances from Dhawan (311 runs), Darren Sammy (174 runs and 8 wickets), Steyn (19 wickets) and Amit Mishra (21 wickets). But beyond these performers, bar a few youngsters, there was very little to boast of.
What was impressive was how in spite of the performance in 2013, the management decided to realign the team’s core, heading into the 2014 auctions, a move whose benefits were further accentuated courtesy auctions in subsequent years.
David Warner and Moises Henriques, two Australians on the upward spirals of their career were brought in, and Sangakkara was released. Sammy, who is known for his affable personality and man management skills was made captain and all seemed to go well till they ran into a Yusuf Pathan blitzkrieg in their final game, narrowly missing out on the playoff berth.
Something similar happened in 2015 as well, the team faltered at the end stages, but there were a couple of remarkable results that would immensely help them later on – Eoin Morgan and Kane Williamson were drafted in as a part of a smart auction strategy to build a leadership unit, and the investment in David Warner (562 runs) and Moises Henriques (287 runs and 11 wickets) paid off.
Come 2016, the Sunrisers were all set to take the major leap into the competition. David Warner, touted as Australia’s future captain was given the leadership responsibilities, a big Indian middle-order name in Yuvraj Singh was snapped up at a reasonable price. Mustafizur Rahman, who not many sides went for in the auctions, was also a successful buy.
And eventually, the Sunrisers managed to outwit the other franchises when it came to building their team – unlike 2013, this time the team was built around Warner, Dhawan, Yuvraj, Williamson, Henriques, Morgan and Ashish Nehra – outstanding contributors to the team culture.
#2 THE BACKROOM BOYS
Terrific Trio: Laxman, Moody & Murali
The key to Leicester City being able to take the English Premier League by storm this season was in their planning – they scouted well, made efficient game plans, managed injuries and built a great team ethic.
A glance at the Sunrisers support staff straightaway ticks all boxes.
Tom Moody who is with the team since 2013 is one of the top names when it comes to coaching sides from the subcontinent. Apart from being an astute analyst, Moody’s presence as a father figure in the side allows the team to gel well around a strong fulcrum.
Alongside Moody, the presence of VVS Laxman, a local hero and Muttiah Muralitharan has ensured that there is no shortage of brains in the dressing room whether it is in planning or in coaching.
What many teams fail to understand is that an IPL side that has motivated Indian players is more likely to perform better than those without – and having Laxman around is a huge shot in the arm for many teething youngsters.
Once the focus shifts from the technical aspects, it becomes about player management. The multi-talented Simon Helmot has had a strong influence as an assistant to Moody, in managing relationships within the squad, providing relevant advice and contributing with his vast experience gathered over a 19-year long coaching career.
Closely on the heels of Helmot, is the physio, Theo Kapakoulakis who has made the team look better with an efficient injury management regime that saw key players like Yuvraj Singh and Kane Williamson return to action at key junctures to bolster the squad.
The absence of an injury free dressing room is critical to a team’s fortunes in a long tournament as the IPL, ask Pune and Punjab.
#3 BEYOND THE MENTAL BLOCKS
It is often seen that teams in the IPL obsess over playing their overseas recruits based on the amount they’ve spent on them in the auction or the kind of value they bring on paper. This is a popular misconception that team managements pander to, only to abort them mid way into the tournament when the team is in a mess.
With the Sunrisers, it’s been refreshingly different. Quite early on, the team management realised that on the nature of the tracks on offer, a Mustafizur would be way more effective than Trent Boult, and that’s where the discussion ended.
Boult, in spite of being one of the world’s top pacers currently has not featured in a single game this season. Mustafizur has contributed richly with his death bowling skills – if Virat Kohli is a benchmark for batsmen this season then his numbers against Mustafizur (a strike-rate of 72) reveal the effectiveness of the Bangladesh bowler.
The fourth foreign player’s slot has been smartly managed by the team, being used by Williamson and Morgan interchangeably, depending on availability, nature of the opposition and the kind of surface. In recent games, the Sunrisers went for a tertiary option in Ben Cutting, who delivered as well.
#4 OPENING SALVOS AND KILLER BOWLING
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David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan have put on over 1500 runs in the history of the competition, the first pair ever to do so – and this year has been no different. In more than fifty percent of their games, the Warner-Dhawan opening duo has managed to put up 40 runs or more for the first wicket.
Their efficiency at the top has been so good, that it has eased a lot of pressure on the middle-order culminating in some useful performances from the likes of Morgan, Yuvraj and Ashish Reddy.
So well have the Sunrisers’ openers batted, that on no occasion has the team had to win any game with less than five wickets to spare – a bulk of their victorious chases being pulled off with seven wickets remaining.
Complementing and, at times, outshining the batting has been the Sunrisers bowling.
Incisive early on, strangling at death, the Mustafizur Rahman and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowling combination has been extremely potent. Mustafizur has one of the best economy rates this season at 6.73 runs per over with 16 wickets in his tally, add Kumar’s 21 wickets at an average of 20.85, that’s forty-eight percent of the entire bowling attack’s tally of opposition wickets.
In Henriques and Barinder Sran, the team has good support options and were hugely helped by Ashish Nehra’s presence before he got ruled out with an injury.
#5 YUVRAJ FACTOR
Yuvraj Singh has batted really well this year
Yuvraj’s return to form has been very beneficial to the team as it has lacked the middle-order finisher for quite some time now. If the southpaw’s knocks against Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders are anything to go by, he is back at doing what he does the best – shepherding chases and providing his team with late bursts.
One can’t discount the experience that Yuvraj brings to the fore, and the value as a mentor to a lot of players who look up to him in the line-up.
Even though the Indian all-rounder hasn’t played as many games for his side this season, he is peaking at the right time and will be one of the major success factors for Hyderabad this season.
