Sunrisers Hyderabad
Prediction: Outside top-4
Not many expected Sunrisers Hyderabad to win the IPl, but the David Warner-led side defied the predictions to win their first title after replacing the Deccan Chargers in 2012. However, the difficult task for them would be to defend the title they won last year.
One of the biggest strengths of the Hyderabad outfit is their star captain Warner leading form the front. He scored a massive 848 runs from 17 innings, including 9 half-centuries, on their way to the crown. Having New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson in the side will be an added bonus for the side. Also they have good Indian batsmen in Shikhar Dhawan and Yuvraj Singh. However, the middle order might be an area of concern as they do not have many explosive recognized stars in there.
led by the in-form Mustafizur Rehman, Hyderabad will be banking on the Bangladeshi to come good if they are to restrict the opponents from scoring big. Ashish Nehra and Barinder Sran will provide him good support and not to mention the defending champions have the purple cap holder in Bhuvneshwar Kumar (23 wickets).