Big picture

Nobody, not even the returning Chennai Super Kings, have come close to retaining as sizeable a chunk of their squad as Sunrisers have. Thirteen players - twelve, without the suspended David Warner - from their IPL 2017 squad will be part of the mix again this season, and if indeed an aspect of their game was broke (see wicketkeeping, middle-order batting, David Warner), they seem to have spruced it up with necessary fixes and upgrades. After a title-winning 2016 season, and a playoff exit last year, Sunrisers go into IPL 2018 with one of the strongest squads on paper, with backups at the ready for almost every single role.

By many counts, Sunrisers did some of the most astute business at the auction. They retained their two indispensable assets, Warner and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, saved a few crores while reacquiring Afghanistan wristspinner Rashid Khan, and got back most of their core without getting into manic bidding wars. Wriddhiman Saha's acquisition offers them a safer pair of hands and useful runs, Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan have been brought in to shore up a flagging middle order, while snapping up the consistent Sandeep Sharma's services for INR 3 Crore ($0.47 million) was somewhat of a steal. That's most boxes ticked, especially when you consider how much tinkering big auctions force upon franchises.

The biggest question facing them is how they will cope with Warner's absence. He has been replaced by Kane Williamson as captain, and by the big-hitting Alex Hales at the top of the order. Three seasons on after being signed up by Sunrisers, Williamson has only played 15 games, his steady batting often proving superfluous to their requirements. How he fares with the bat in the absence of the run-machine Warner will be key to their fortunes.

The good

In Warner's absence, bowling is clearly Sunrisers' stronger suit. They arguably have the best Powerplay bowling combination in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma, who have a combined economy rate of 6.47 over the past three seasons while picking up a wicket every 25 balls. Bhuvneshwar's excellence extends to death bowling, where his accuracy has won tight games in recent times.

Joining forces with them will be Rashid Khan, whose value more than doubled after a breakout debut season, in which he derailed many an innings in the middle overs with his befuddling variations. An economy rate of 6.35 in this phase with a wicket every 20 balls, every franchise think-tank would tell you, is gold dust. They also have Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Nabi in their ranks, two allrounders who could be tasked with the specialist middle-overs run-choker's role: Shakib concedes 7.03 per over in this phase, while Nabi, albeit on a limited sample size, proved effective last season. Overall, it looks a bowling attack with horses for every possible course.

The bad

You guessed it: Warner's absence and the near-impossible task of replacing him. As the dashing half of Sunrisers' opening partnership with Shikhar Dhawan (Warner's SR since 2015: 149.59, Dhawan's 122.18), Warner raced off the blocks, made up for sedate partners when needed, and bossed chases like no other opener has in recent times: he averages a mighty 64.30 while chasing targets over the past three seasons. He has been replaced by Hales, who has remarkably not played a single IPL game yet, and comes with a T20 strike rate of 154.03 since 2015, the fourth-highest among openers.

While Hales' hitting abilities are well-known, he is nowhere close to as prolific a run-scorer as Warner, who averages an incredible 53.97 over the past three IPL seasons, with a fifty-plus score almost every second game. The other option would be for Kane Williamson to open with Dhawan, which could well see the latter forced into playing a far more adventurous role, shades of which have been visible in his recent performances for India.

The overseas question

Captain Williamson and Rashid Khan should pick themselves, while Alex Hales should finally get his long-pending IPL debut in the first few games. The fourth spot is open for all kinds of debate, between three allrounders - the fingerspin duo of Shakib and Nabi, and the seam-bowling big-hitting option in Carlos Brathwaite. Nabi played just three games in IPL 2017, and all three of them could be rotated through the season on the basis of form and conditions. They also have Stanlake and Chris Jordan in the mix, but given their array of domestic seam-bowling options, it is hard to see them get a look-in, at least in the first few games.

The plan

Sunrisers could shift from the win-toss, bowl-first mindset that is now the norm in T20 cricket. Among sides that have played in each of the past three seasons, they have been the most successful side while defending totals, winning 16 of their 27 games, and a strengthened bowling attack is only likely to improve on that. Not a single T20 game has been played at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium since the last IPL - India's game against Australia was washed out - and how the pitch will play is anyone's guess. With the variety and depth of bowling options at their disposal, they would back themselves to succeed irrespective of the conditions on offer.

Possible starting XI: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Kane Williamson (c), 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Deepak Hooda, 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 Siddarth Kaul/Basil Thampi

The brains

Tom Moody (head coach), Simon Helmot (assistant coach), Muttiah Muralitharan (bowling coach), VVS Laxman (mentor)