BBL 12: Sydney Thunder - SWOT Analysis


image-lbgh5ncaJason Sangha, the newly appointed captain of Sydney Thunder (Source: Twitter)

With the Australian Summer feast on the song, the T20 bonanza knocks at the doors in the form of the Big Bash League. It's not even a week left for Australia's one of biggest parties of the Summer, which kicks off in the heart of suburban Canberra on Dec 13. Sydney Thunders will face off against Melbourne Stars at the competition's opener in their temporary (home venue during Covid19 pandemic) home ground, Manuka Oval. 

The Thunder finished third in the points table last season and were eliminated in the knockouts after they failed to chase a target of 185 against Adelaide Strikers.  However, with a new feather in the skipper's hat, we shall have a vivid look at how the Jason Sangha-led unit sounds on paper.

Contracted Players: Jason Sangha ©, David Warner, Ben Cutting, Fazalhaq Farooqi (AFG), Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales (ENG) Ollie Davies, Brendan Doggett,, Baxter Holt, Nathan McAndrew, Usman Qadir (PAK), Alex Ross, Rilee Rossouw (RSA), Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Tanveer Sangha, Sam Whiteman 

Strength of Sydney Thunder

  • Talking about Match winners, Sydney Thunder have plenty in their ranks. English batter Alex Hales and Proteas swashbuckler Rilee Rossouw can be threatening at the top of the order. The addition of Fazalhaq Farooqi and the presence of allrounders like Daniel Sams offers the icing on the cake.
  • There is a saying in short-format cricket that "bowlers win you tournaments". The likes of Fazalhaq Farooqi, Gurinder Sandhu, Tanveer Sangha, Chris Green, and Daniel Sams in their bowling unit do encapsulate a match-winning combo. Uncapped players like Brendan Doggett and Nathan McAndrew could be lethal with their accuracy.
  • A heavy top-order batting is what the Thunder have always been known for. Hales and Rossouw offer the bombshell at the top order with newly defined captain Jason Sangha at the one-down position. The presence of David Warner at the late end of the tournament will also boost the batting prowess.

Weakness of Sydney Thunder

  • If one closely gazes at the Thunder squad, it is clear that a reliable finisher is missing in their ranks. Their lower-order is likely to have a permutation of Daniel Sams, Chris Green, Nathan McAndrew, Matthew Gilkes. Sams played a few explosive knocks at the lower-middle order in the previous seasons but he is deficit of assistance. Chris Green, who has been a regular name in this side since BBL 4 is known for his quickfire's but isn’t reliable enough.

Opportunities

  • A team once led by Aussie revereds - Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Calum Ferguson, have found a young leader disguised in the name of Jason Sangha. The 23-year-old’s resume portrays captaining the Aussie U-19s, Randwick-Petersham’s Premier team during his teenage days and currently a deputy to Kurtis Patterson in the NSW team. This is the perfect stage for the prodigy to step-up and fill the shoes of Chris Green, thereby showcase what he possesses as a leader.

Threats 

  • It would not be wrong to say that David Warner will be a huge miss for the Thunders in the major part of the Big Bash League season owing to national duties. But what’s interesting is it is ‘Warner the leader’ who will be a bigger void in the think tank for the Thunder's. Baring Chris Green and Alex Hales, the leadership group lacks luster.  
  • The New South Wales based franchise had won one a title back in the 2015-2016 edition under the leadership of Mr. Cricket, Michael Hussey.  With a mix of youth and experience in their armoury, can Sydney Thunder reach the summit clash and clinch the title after 7 long years? Only time will tell.

Also Read: BBL 12: Adelaide Strikers- SWOT Analysis