Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL

A new Hyderabad franchise

When Deccan Chargers were terminated in 2012, the league awarded a new Hyderabad franchise to the Sun TV group. Sunrisers Hyderabad played their first season in 2013 and reached the playoffs, with Dale Steyn leading the attack and Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order. They are a separate franchise from Deccan, and this archive keeps their records apart; Deccan Chargers has its own page.

Warner and the bowlers

David Warner, bought for ₹5.5 crore at the 2014 mega auction, became captain and the franchise's dominant batter, the league's leading run-scorer in three seasons. In 2016 Hyderabad won the title with a bowling attack led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman, and Warner kept before the 2018 mega auction alongside Bhuvneshwar. Without Warner, who was banned that year, they still reached the 2018 final under Kane Williamson.

Rashid Khan, one of the first Afghanistan players in the league, joined in 2017 and became a fixture until he left before the 2022 mega auction to join the new Gujarat franchise.

The 2024 reinvention

Hyderabad spent the most at the 2023 auction and finished last. At the 2024 auctionthey paid ₹20.5 crore for Pat Cummins and made him captain. With Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma opening and Heinrich Klaasen in the middle order, they posted the highest total in the league's history and reached the final, losing to Kolkata. Before the 2025 mega auction they kept that core together, including Cummins, Head, Abhishek and Klaasen.

Hyderabad in CricArcade

In IPL Dynasty you can take over Hyderabad in 2013 and build a franchise from its first auction.

The bowling years

For most of their first decade Hyderabad were built to defend. Bhuvneshwar Kumar took the most wickets in a season in both 2016 and 2017, Rashid Khan joined in 2017 and quickly became one of the league's most economical bowlers, and the franchise regularly won matches with totals other sides would have considered too low. Warner's runs at the top were the other half of the plan.

That approach ended when Warner was removed as captain during the 2021 season and left before the 2022 mega auction. Hyderabad kept only three players before that auction, Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad and the uncapped fast bowler Umran Malik, and spent more than all but one franchise rebuilding.

Hyderabad by the numbers

Hyderabad have swung between extremes. They were the smallest spenders at three consecutive auctions, 2019 to 2021, trusting a settled squad, then the second biggest at the 2022 mega auction and the biggest in 2023. The 2023 spending, including Harry Brook, bought a last-place finish; the 2024 spending, on Cummins, bought a final.

Most of Hyderabad's record buys played regularly, and their bowlers have taken a large share of the money over the years. In the later era the franchise's strength came from players kept rather than bought: before the 2025 mega auction Hyderabad kept five, the core of the side that had reached the 2024 final.

The record-breaking season

The 2024 side changed what a T20 total could be. Travis Head, bought for ₹6.8 crore at the 2024 auction, scored 567 runs at the top of the order with Abhishek Sharma, whom Hyderabad had bought back for ₹6.5 crore at the 2022 mega auction. Within a few weeks Hyderabad posted two of the highest totals the league had seen, the second of them the highest of all against Bangalore, and in another match scored more than 120 in the six powerplay overs.

Heinrich Klaasen in the middle order and Cummins's captaincy completed the side. Hyderabad lost the final to Kolkata, whose own record buy, Starc, took the key early wickets, but the season changed how every franchise thought about the top of the batting order. The two franchises had made the two most expensive purchases of the 2024 auction.

Captains

Hyderabad's captains have mostly been overseas players. Kumar Sangakkara and Cameron White shared the first season, Shikhar Dhawan led in 2014, and David Warner captained from 2015, winning the 2016 title. Kane Williamson led the side to the 2018 final while Warner was banned, and was the season's leading run-scorer. Williamson was kept before the 2022 mega auction, one of only three players Hyderabad retained. Aiden Markram captained in 2023 and Pat Cummins from 2024, when Hyderabad reached their third final.

Reading Hyderabad's tables

The spend chart below shows the three quiet years from 2019 to 2021, when Hyderabad trusted a settled squad, followed by heavy spending from 2022. The record buys include Cummins and Head from the 2024 auction, the two purchases that turned the franchise around, and the retention lists show the 2025 decision to keep that core together rather than start again, a break from 2022, when Hyderabad had kept only three players and rebuilt almost everything else.