Ahead of the all-important IPL mega auction, SunRisers Hyderabad decided to retain three players -- Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad and Umran Malik -- raising a few eyebrows with their choice of retentions. The team let go of superstars like David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Rashid Khan and Jason Holder to name a few. They then went on to splash Rs 6.5 crore on Abhishek Sharma, a player who had been with the franchise. While their decision to put faith in youngsters under the leadership of New Zealand's premier batter was applauded by many, it is yet to bear fruit in IPL 2022.
SunRisers Hyderabad had finished last in IPL 2021 and are yet to win a match in IPL 2022 after playing two matches. It's too early to say if their decision to put faith in youngsters like Abdul Samad, Umran Malik, and Abhishek Sharma has backfired but nonetheless the trio are yet to make a big contribution till now.
While Umran Malik's raw pace and ability to clock upwards of 150kmph is a lethal weapon to have, Samad and Abhishek Sharma have been underwhelming to say the least.
Many SRH fans too were left unimpressed by the duo's performance so far in IPL, and after the defeat to Lucknow Super Giants, took to Twitter to make their feelings known.
Rival fans, though, took the opportunity to poke fun at SRH and did so by posting some funny memes.
On Monday, SunRisers lost to the Super Giants by 12 runs. Abhishek Sharma scored 13 off 11 balls while Samad was sent packing for a golden duck by Avesh Khan. The latter bowled an over as well, failing to pick up a wicket and going for eight runs.
In SunRisers Hyderabad's opening IPL 2022 match against Rajasthan Royals, Abhishek Sharma struggled big time to get going before being dismissed for 9 off 19 balls. Samad, on the other hand, could score just 4 off 6 balls, dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal.
In that match Abhishek got to bowl one over but was plundered for 15 runs as RR ran out comfortable winners.
The SRH team management will be hoping and praying for the duo to come to the party sooner rather than later and if they don't, the captain and the coach have some tough decisions to take.