Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad (stylised as SunRisers Hyderabad, abbr. SRH) are a professional franchise cricket team based in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by Kalanithi Maran of the SUN Group and was founded in 2012 after the Hyderabad-based Deccan Chargers were terminated by the IPL. The team is currently coached by Daniel Vettori and captained by Pat Cummins. Their primary home ground is the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad, which has a capacity of 39,000.

The team made their first IPL appearance in 2013, where they reached the playoffs, eventually finishing in fourth place. The Sunrisers won their maiden IPL title in the 2016 season, defeating the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 8 runs in the final. The team has qualified for the play-off stage of the tournament for five consecutive seasons between 2016 and 2020. In 2018, the team reached the finals of the Indian Premier League, but lost to Chennai Super Kings. In 2024, the team reached the finals of the Indian Premier League, but lost to Kolkata Knight Riders. The team was considered one of the best bowling sides, often admired for its ability to defend low totals, but now has shifted to a remarkable batting side, according to many cricket pundits. The team also holds the record for the highest-ever IPL total with 287 runs. David Warner is the leading run scorer for the side, having won the Orange Cap three times, in 2015, 2017, and 2019. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the leading wicket-taker having won the Purple Cap twice, in 2016 and 2017. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the brand value of the Sunrisers Hyderabad which saw a decline of 4 percent to US$57.4 million in 2020 as the overall brand value of the IPL decreased to US$4.4 billion, according to Brand Finance.

Franchise history
Sunrisers Hyderabad replaced the Deccan Chargers in 2012 and debuted in 2013. The franchise was taken over by Sun TV Network after the Deccan Chronicle went bankrupt. The squad was announced in Chennai on 18 December 2012. The team is owned by Sun TV Network who won the bid with inr 85.05 per year for a five-year deal, a week after the Chargers were terminated due to prolonged financial issues. Sun TV Network Limited, which is headquartered in Chennai, is one of India's biggest television networks with 32 TV channels and 45 FM radio stations, making it India's largest media and entertainment company.

The team jersey was unveiled on 8 March 2013, and the team anthem composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar was released on 12 March 2013. The logo was unveiled on 20 December 2012, along with the announcement that the team's management would be led by Kris Srikkanth, now replaced by veteran Muttiah Muralitharan, Tom Moody and V. V. S. Laxman.

2013–2015: Initial years
Sunrisers Hyderabad made their IPL debut in the 2013 season. They retained 20 players from the Chargers, which left slots open for 13 players (eight Indian, five overseas). They filled six of these with Thisara Perera, Darren Sammy, Sudeep Tyagi, Nathan McCullum, Quinton de Kock and Clint McKay. Kumar Sangakkara captained SRH for nine matches and Cameron White was captain for the remaining seven, as well as the eliminator match in the playoffs. In their inaugural season, the team reached the playoffs but were eliminated after losing against Rajasthan Royals by 4 wickets at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on 22 May 2013. The team played all of their home games in Hyderabad.

For the 2014 season, Pune Warriors India was defunct and not replaced, leaving only eight teams in the league. The team retained two players, Dale Steyn and Shikhar Dhawan. As a result of this retention, the team had an auction purse of inr 380000000 and two right-to-match cards. Shikhar Dhawan and Darren Sammy were named as captain and vice captain respectively. Due to the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, the season was partially held outside India with the opening 20 matches hosted in the United Arab Emirates and the remaining matches played in India from 2 May onwards. The team finished in 6th place with six wins and eight losses, failing to secure a place in the playoffs. Dhawan led the team for the first ten matches while Sammy led the team for remaining four.

For the 2015 season, SRH retained 13 players and released 11. David Warner was appointed as the captain for this season and led the team in all matches played. Muttiah Muralitharan was appointed the team's bowling coach as well as mentor. Sunrisers Hyderabad played their first three home games at Visakhapatnam and the remaining four home games at Hyderabad. The team again finished 6th with seven wins and seven losses, failing to reach the playoffs. Warner won the first Orange Cap for SRH.

2016–2020: Maiden title and consecutive playoff appearances
For the 2016 season, SRH retained 15 players and released nine. After the auction, SRH traded two players. Sunrisers Hyderabad were crowned champions under David Warner's magnificent captaincy after defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final and ending the season with 11 wins and six losses. This was their maiden, and to date only, title. Bhuvneshwar Kumar became the first Sunrisers Hyderabad player to win the Purple Cap.

For the 2017 season, SRH retained 17 players and released six from the title-winning squad. The team then spent inr 45.1 at the auction, leaving inr 20.9 remaining. As the defending champions, as per IPL norms, SRH hosted both the opening and closing ceremonies of the season. The team finished 3rd on points in the table. They lost against the Kolkata Knight Riders in the eliminator match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The team made a below-par total of 128–7 in 20 overs, but the Kolkata Knight Riders' innings was reduced to just six overs due to rain. The revised total was 48, which the Knight Riders met with seven wickets and four balls remaining. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was able to retain the Purple Cap while David Warner won the Orange Cap.

For the 2018 season, the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were reinstated in the league after serving a two-year suspension from the competition due to the involvement of their players in the 2013 IPL betting scandal. The IPL governing council decided that a maximum of five players can be retained by each IPL team. SRH retained only two players and released all remaining players from the squad. The retention of two players meant SRH went in to the 2018 IPL auction with ₹59 crore in their auction purse and three right-to-match (RTM) cards. The salary deduction for every retained player from the franchise's salary purse was stipulated to be ₹15 crore, ₹11 crore and ₹7 crore if three players were retained; ₹12.5 crore and ₹8.5 crore if two players were retained; and ₹12.5 crore if only one player was retained. For retaining an uncapped player, salary deduction was set at ₹3 crore. David Warner had stepped down from captaincy on 28 March 2018 and the BCCI announced that he will not be allowed to play in IPL 2018 following the Australian ball-tampering controversy. On 29 March, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was chosen to lead SRH for the 2018 season. On 31 March, England batsman Alex Hales was announced as replacement for the banned Warner. SRH finished the 2018 season as runners-up of the competition after losing to Chennai Super Kings in the final with 10 wins and seven losses. Williamson won the Orange Cap with 735 runs.

Ahead of the auction, SRH traded Shikhar Dhawan to Delhi Capitals in favour of Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar and Abhishek Sharma. SRH retained 17 players and released nine players. On auction day (18 December 2018), SRH bought three new players; Jonny Bairstow, Martin Guptill and Wriddhiman Saha, the latter of which was bought back in the auction after initially being released. David Warner made a comeback to IPL on 24 March 2019 after he was banned by BCCI to participate in 2018 season due to Australian ball-tampering controversy. SRH decided to stay with Kane Williamson as captain and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as vice-captain. Before start of the season, Williamson was nursing an injury and Kumar led the team in the first game against Kolkata Knight Riders and from the third game till the sixth game. SRH ended the 2019 season with 6 wins and 9 losses. They lost against Delhi Capitals in the Eliminator at Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. Warner won the orange cap in this season.

Ahead of the auction, SRH retained 18 players and released 5 players. On auction day (19 December 2019), SRH bought 7 new players including the likes of Mitchell Marsh and Priyam Garg among others. SRH parted ways with Tom Moody and Simon Helmot and named Trevor Bayliss and Brad Haddin as Head coach and Assistant Coach respectively. On 27 February 2020, Warner was reinstated as captain of SRH replacing Kane Williamson. SRH ended their 2020 campaign with 8 wins and 8 losses. In the playoffs, they beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore before losing to the Delhi Capitals in the Qualifier 2 at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi with Warner as their highest run-scorer for the season.

2021–2023: Struggles
Ahead of the 2021 auction, SRH retained 22 players and released 5 players. On auction day (18 February 2021), SRH bought 3 players – J Suchith, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Kedar Jadhav. In addition, SRH added Tom Moody back to the staff team as the Director of Cricket. Following the team's poor start to the season with 1 win from 7 games, SRH announced Kane Williamson as their captain for the remainder of the season replacing David Warner.

Tom Moody and Simon Helmot became the head coach and assistant-coach respectively for their second stint following the departure of Trevor Bayliss and Brad Haddin as Head coach and assistant coach respectively. Dale Steyn has been appointed as the Fast bowling coach for SRH while Muttiah Muralitharan remained as the spin bowling coach. Ahead of the Mega auction, SRH retained Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, and Umran Malik and has released other players including Jonny Bairstow, Warner, Rashid Khan, Manish Pandey, Sandeep Sharma and Siddarth Kaul for the 2022 Mega auction. SRH has bought Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan, Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Washington Sundar, Nicholas Pooran and Glenn Phillips during the IPL 2022 Mega auction. Kane Williamson led the team in the 2022 season. They finished in 8th place on the points table. After initial success, the team lost five back-to-back matches and didn't qualify for the playoffs.

SRH appointed Brian Lara as the head coach ahead of the 2023 season replacing Tom Moody. SRH have announced Aiden Markram as the new captain for 2023 season replacing former captain Kane Williamson following a poor 2022 season. Ahead of the auction, SRH retained 12 players while the franchise released their captain Kane Williamson and other players including Nicholas Pooran, Jagadeesha Suchith, and Romario Shepherd. On the auction day, their significant buys were Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Heinrich Klaasen and Adil Rashid. The team disappointed, managing only 4 wins over the season (including a solitary win at the home ground) while many players had difficult campaigns, including Brook, Agarwal and Malik with Heinrich Klaasen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mayank Markande performances being the positives.

2024: Turnaround after struggles
Following the 2023 season debacle, SRH announced Daniel Vettori as the head coach replacing Brian Lara and released the likes of Harry Brook, Adil Rashid, and Kartik Tyagi ahead of the IPL 2024 auction. SRH traded Mayank Dagar to Royal Challengers Bengaluru and got Shahbaz Ahmed in return ahead of the players retention/release deadline. On the auction day, SRH purchased the likes of Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jaydev Unadkat. SRH announced Pat Cummins as the new captain for the 2024 season replacing former captain Aiden Markram following a poor 2023 season.

The team started off their campaign with a narrow defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders. On 27 March 2024, Sunrisers Hyderabad surpassed Royal Challengers Bengaluru's 11-year-old record of the highest-ever IPL total of 263 runs by scoring 277 against Mumbai Indians, & securing a 31-run victory at the in Hyderabad. Following this, the team endured another narrow defeat to Gujarat Titans. The team then went with a 4 match winning streak against Chennai Super Kings, Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals with the last 3 being at their respective home grounds.

On 15 April 2024, Sunrisers Hyderabad broke their own record for the highest IPL total with a sensational 287 for three against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Bengaluru. SRH's total is also the second-highest T20 cricket, only behind Nepal's 314/3 against Mongolia in 2023. In reply, RCB racked up 262 for seven in a 25-run defeat, the highest T20 score ever to end up on the losing side.

Following the 4 match winning streak, the team had recorded its solitary home defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore followed by a defeat against CSK in Chennai. SRH pulled off a 1 run win against Rajasthan Royals at home with Bhuvneshwar Kumar defending 12 runs (needed for Rajasthan to clinch the win) and dismissing Rovman Powell on the final delivery off the match. The team then lost to Mumbai Indians in Mumbai. The team has returned to Hyderabad for their final 3 league games, the team has chased down Lucknow Super Giants total of 165 in 9.4 overs without losing a single wicket, followed by a washout against Gujarat Titans and have finished off the league stage with a win against Punjab Kings at home and ended at number 2 position in the table marking a return to playoffs after 4 years.

The team played against Kolkata Knight Riders at Ahmedabad in Qualifier 1, which they lost by 8 wickets and played the qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals in Chennai, won the match by 36 runs and advanced to finals to play Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai. The team ended the season as runners up with Kolkata Knight Riders winning by 8 wickets, the team has finished with 9 wins, 7 losses and 1 No result.

Captains
Last updated: 26 May 2024

Home ground


The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium is the principal cricket stadium in Hyderabad and is the home ground of the SRH. It is owned by the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). It is located in the eastern suburb of Uppal and has a seating capacity of 40,000.

In 2015, the 30,000-capacity Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium, which is located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, was selected as the secondary home ground for Sunrisers Hyderabad and the team played their first three home games there during that season.

During the 2017 season, as the Sunrisers Hyderabad were defending IPL champions, they hosted the season opener and final. SRH selected their primary home ground to host their home games.

During the 2019 season, Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium was selected to host the IPL final after the BCCI decided to shift the match from M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai after TNCA failed to secure permission to open three locked stands for the match. Hyderabad Cricket Association won the award for best ground and pitch during the IPL 2019 and IPL 2024 seasons.

Home record
This section include records against other teams at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in IPL.

Rivalry with Royal Challengers Bengaluru
There is a notable rivalry between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Hyderabad franchises, first with Deccan Chargers and now with Sunrisers Hyderabad. The clashes between Bengaluru and Hyderabad have been intense with the latter ultimately dominating the former. Deccan Chargers had won 6 out of the 11 clashes between the two and Sunrisers currently lead with 13 games to the 11 games won by RCB as per the latest edition. There is also a notable trend where the Hyderabad franchise has jeopardised RCB's campaigns in some way or the other. The 2009 Indian Premier League final was won by Deccan Chargers and the 2016 Indian Premier League final was won by Sunrisers Hyderabad. Their 2020 clash was also at a high-stake eliminator, where a fifty by Kane Williamson trumped RCB to knock them out of IPL 2020. Even with their abysmal 2021 season, SRH were able to beat a rising RCB. RCB had the opportunity to reach the top 2 but ended up in 3rd place, forcing them to play the eliminator, where they eventually lost to KKR, knocking them out of IPL 2021. RCB's 2022 IPL campaign was also affected by SRH, whom they lost to by 9 wickets after scoring 68 in their first encounter, putting them under pressure because of their negative run rate throughout their otherwise strong campaign.

In the latest chapter of the rivalry between the two in IPL 2024, like the Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad were the first to break the 263-run record set by RCB, which seemed insurmountable at the time as a result of Chris Gayle's 175. In a more humiliating turn, SRH again broke RCB's record against RCB themselves on their home ground, scoring 287 runs, thanks to a 39-ball century by Travis Head and a 30-ball 67 by Heinrich Klassen. Although there was a valiant effort by RCB, spearheaded by Dinesh Karthik's 83 off 35 and captain Faf du Plessis's 62 off 28, RCB still lost by 25 runs. The loss also worsened RCB's already unfavourable odds in their dismal IPL 2024 to qualify for the playoffs. SRH would break RCB's 263 record for the third time and score 266 against the Delhi Capitals after setting an all-time T20 record by scoring 125 runs inside the power-play.