Bowling remains Sunrisers Hyderabad's stronger suit
Bairstow and Williamson could both feature in their playing XI, but the lower middle order remains a concern
Where they finished in 2020
After just three wins in their first nine games, the Sunrisers Hyderabad bounced back to finish third on the points table. In the Eliminator, they beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore but lost to the Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2.Potential XI
1 David Warner (capt), 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Kane Williamson, 5 Vijay Shankar, 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 T NatarajanBatting
For the last couple of years, the dilemma for the Sunrisers has been which of Jonny Bairstow and Kane Williamson to leave out from their playing XI. In the second half of the previous season, they found their best combination with Wriddhiman Saha replacing Bairstow at the top, Williamson slotting in at No. 4 and Jason Holder shoring up both batting and bowling.Bowling
Bowling has always been the Sunrisers' stronger suit. Last season, they were hampered by Kumar's injury, but his return - not only on the field but also to form - should please them. In the recently concluded T20I and ODI series against England, Kumar was by far India's most economical bowler apart from picking up crucial wickets.Young player to watch out for
Eyes will once again be on Abdul Samad. Samad, 19, was picked by the Sunrisers at the 2019 auction for his six-hitting skills. In the last IPL, his strike rate of 170.76 was the fifth-highest among those with at least 100 runs in the tournament. He was also the top scorer for Jammu and Kashmir in the 2020-21 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, tallying 140 runs in four innings at an average of 46.66 and a strike rate of 148.93. If he can nail his role of a finisher, the Sunrises will have all their bases covered.Coaching staff
Tom Moody (director of cricket), Trevor Bayliss (head coach), Brad Haddin (assistant coach), Muttiah Muralitharan (bowling coach), Biju George (fielding coach) and VVS Laxman (mentor)Poll
Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo