IPL 2023 recap: Colorless Sunrisers Hyderabad fail to resurrect
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) endured a poor Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign in 2023. They could not rise from the ashes under Aiden Markram and finished 10th. The Orange Army were knocked out of the IPL 2023 playoffs after losing eight of their first 12 games. Notably, SRH finished in the bottom half for the third successive IPL season. Here are the key takeaways.
Four wins for SRH
SRH finished last in the IPL 2023 standings with four wins and eight points (NRR: -0.590). They started their campaign with two defeats, to Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants, respectively. The side then bounced back with wins over Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders. Three consecutive defeats thereafter dented their plight. The Orange Army won only two of their next seven encounters.
Markram fails to lead from front
South Africa's Aiden Markram was chosen to lead SRH ahead of the season. He received the baton after he guided Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the inaugural SA20 title. With 366 runs in 12 games, he finished as the third-highest run-getter. However, Markam couldn't replicate it in IPL 2023. Markram averaged just 22.54 in the season, having scored 248 runs from 13 matches.
A one-man show
Heinrich Klaasen was the only SRH batter with more than 300 runs in IPL 2023. He racked up 448 runs at a staggering strike rate of 177.07. The tally included three 50+ scores (one century). The likes of Rahul Tripathi (273 runs), Mayank Agarwal (270), Abhishek Sharma (226), and Harry Brook (190) failed to make an impact.
SRH's colorless bowling attack
While SRH's batting looked pale, the bowlers leaked runs aplenty. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, their highest wicket-taker (16) in the season, gave away runs at 8.33 per over. SRH's next-best pacers Marco Jansen (9.88) and T Natarajan (9.11) had a similar story. The absence of India's fastest bowler Umran Malik from SRH's XI also raised eyebrows. He was dropped in the season's second half.
Lack of quality spinners
The dearth of spinners in the SRH bowling attack was quite visible. Only leg-spinner Mayank Markande was impactful to an extent, having taken 12 wickets at 25. Their next-best spinner was Washington Sundar, who took three wickets. Adil Rashid and Abhishek scalped two wickets apiece.
SRH unable to defend
SRH lost their final four matches of IPL 2023. It is worth noting that they lost three of these matches while defending. A look at the losing margins: 7 wickets vs LSG, 34 runs vs GT, 8 wickets vs RCB, 8 wickets vs MI.
