IPL 2021: The 7 players who should be in Sunrisers Hyderabad bucket list for IPL mega auction in December

1. A foreign opener, back-up for David Warner

Jason Roy has made a fine debut for SRH against RR and he can make a formidable combo at the top with England teammate Jonny Bairstow. But if SRH let go Warner, then they need a back-up foreign opener. The Hyderabad outfit can gun for Chris Lynn, Liam Livingstone (Rajasthan Royals) and Sam Billings (Delhi Capitals) for that role. At present, these players have no or limited roles for their respective teams so far. They too would like to get a move on and have more active role in the IPL 2022.

2. Indian all-rounder, back-up for Vijay Shankar

Currently, the Sunrisers have Vijay Shankar and Abhishek Sharma and Abdul Samad doing the role of Indian all-rounder in the side. But none of them have really managed to set the stage ablaze in IPL 2021. Vijay is recuperating from Covid-19 related isolation too after coming in contact with positive case in T Natarajan. But they SRH would want someone more solid in that role in IPL 2022, even if they chose carry the trio forward.

They can try to bid for Shivam Dube and Shreyas Gopal, both play for Rajasthan Royals. But they have not been able to enter the mix for RR in the IPL 2021. Both are experienced hands in the IPL atmosphere and can contribute with both bat and ball.

3. An experienced India pacer, back-up for Bhuvneshwar

For long, Sunrisers have banked on Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who had also captained them, to be the spearhead of their pace attack. But of late, Bhuvneshwar has slowed down a bit with injuries plaguing him more often. Even if SRH want to retain, they might want to see a good back up for him for the times he is not available. So, who could be their choices?

They can try to get Dhawal Kulkarni from Mumbai Indians. In the MI set up Dhawal does not have a big role behind Jasprit Bumrah. SRH can do with his reliable pace attack and Dhawal is also a handy lower-order batsman. They can also gun for Umesh Yadav, now with Delhi Capitals, or a relatively younger Ishan Porel, now in the Punjab Kings den.

4. An experienced middle-order batsman

The Sunrisers' policy of giving exposure to young Indian names like Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad etc have yielded only a limited purchase, leaving Manish Pandey with a massive burden. Kedar Jadhav too has not really met their expectations. They have the option of looking out for Robin Uthappa (Chennai Super Kings), who is quite flexible when it comes to batting slots, or the experienced Ajinkya Rahane (Delhi Capitals).

K Gowtham, now with CSK, does not fall exactly into the category of a middle-order batsman but they can think of roping him because the Karnataka man can be an explosive batsman, fine fielder and a handy batsman at 7 or 8.