Sunrisers Hyderabad were a very consistent IPL team when David Warner was in charge of them as captain. Not only did they win their maiden IPL title under Warner in 2016, they also made it to the playoffs of IPL back to back on many occasions.
However, as David Warner’s grip loosened on the SRH squad, they into a very inconsistent IPL team and this IPL season again, they ended up in the bottom half of the table. They were nowhere in contention for the playoffs.
If we talk about the history of SRH, they have made some good decisions in terms of buying players at times, but they have also made some really poor decisions in terms of letting players go and that has costed them dearly.
Here are the 2 costliest player releases made by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the history of IPL –
Rashid Khan
When Rashid Khan was let go by Sunrisers Hyderabad before the 2022 mega auction, nobody could believe that SRH actually made that decision. Rashid is the no. 1 spinner in the world in T20 cricket and he would have been a straightforward retention for any other franchise.
But, SRH didn’t retain him and the reports suggested that Rashid didn’t get retained because he wanted to be the first retention of the team, while SRH management wanted Kane Williamson to be the first retention. Gujarat Titans, in the meantime, took advantage of the opportunity and signed Rashid before the 2022 mega auction.
David Warner
Even though David Warner’s relation had clearly soured with the SRH management towards the end of his stint in Hyderabad, but given the fact that Warner had just won a T20 World Cup for Australia in 2021 in UAE, releasing him ahead of the 2022 IPL mega auction was not a very wise decision by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Warner is currently at Delhi Capitals and although the Capitals struggled as a team this IPL season, Warner’s personal form was still decent and he finished the season as the leading run scorer for the Capitals.
