According to former South African batsman AB de Villiers, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) has assembled a squad capable of winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the upcoming season. De Villiers expressed his opinion that even before the auction, the SRH squad already possessed a few match-winners, and the addition of Pat Cummins, Travis Head, and Wanindu Hasaranga has strengthened their team than before.
In the IPL Auction that happened on December 19, 2023, in Dubai, SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) made some interesting bids and got the Australian skipper Pat Cummins for ₹20.50 crore. The Centurion in the 2023 ODI World Cup final against India, Travis Head was included in the squad for ₹6.8 crore, and Wanindu Hasaranga for ₹1.5 crore.
While talking about the SRH squad on his official YouTube channel, AB de Villiers said, “One of the biggest steals of the IPL. Wanindu Hasaranga, the Sri Lankan leg-spinner for ₹1.5 crore. That guy wins games. Every second game he plays, he does something special. This team was one of my favorite squads last season. They have only added to the squad with Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Unadkat, Hasaranga.”
SRH finished at the last position in IPL 2023 and highlighting it de Villiers said, “That’s a team that can win the IPL. I am not going to tell you that they will win the IPL. But, SunRisers Hyderabad for IPL 2024, watch out.”
The Hyderabad-based franchise joined the Indian Premier League in 2013 and they have won only one IPL to date. In 2016, under the captaincy of David Warner SRH lifted the trophy beating Royal Challengers Bangalore.
