Sunrisers Hyderabad spent heavily on retentions. Heinrich Klaasen was retained for INR 23 crore while Pat Cummins was given INR 18 crore.

Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma were retained for INR 14 crore each while Nitish Kumar Reddy was signed for INR 6 crore. The batting unit looked rock-solid and for the same reason, the 2016 champions could afford to spend the majority of their remaining purse on getting a quality bowling unit.

They signed Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Chahar, Adam Zampa and Jaydev Unadkat among others, which is commendable, given that the franchise had only INR 45 crore to spend in the auction. They signed Harshal for INR 8 crore, while got Shami for INR 10 crore, which might be slightly expensive, given that the pace might be at the twilight of his career.

Here are three players that the franchise could have signed instead of Shami:

3. T Natarajan

Sunrisers Hyderabad should have gone for T Natarajan, who has been a star for them in the last few years. The 33-year-old played 55 matches for the franchise, picking up 65 wickets and has been their death-over specialist over the year. Even in the previous edition of the competition, he picked up 19 wickets in 14 games and was one of the biggest reasons behind Hyderabad qualifying for the final.

Delhi Capitals signed him for INR 10.75 crore in the IPL auction, which is slightly more than what SRH offered to Shami. Natarajan had his own share of concerns regarding injuries but given his experience in playing at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, the pacer could have been extremely handy. Notably, Hyderabad bid for his initially but the player was out of their budget. However, they should have saved some money and get Natarajan back.

2. Deepak Chahar

If they were looking for a bowler who could pick wickets in the powerplay, Deepak Chahar should have been their guy. He could have been an excellent replacement for Bhuvneshwar Kumar and could given the team a few breakthroughs in the powerplay. Shami and Cummins are more-or-less similar in nature and a swing bowler like Chahar could have been extremely effective at the top.

He can bat as well, which is always an advantage. Notably, Mumbai Indians signed the cricketer for INR 9.25 crore. Hyderabad did not enter the bidding war but he could have been an excellent choice for them. Meanwhile, Chahar has injury concerns but if he remains fit, the cricketer will be an asset with the new ball for any team.

1. Fazalhaq Farooqi

With Pat Cummins being a foreign pacer, there was no room for Fazalhaq Farooqi. The 24-year-old didn't play a single game for them last season. However, the Afghanistan international has been brilliant for the national team and also did a commendable job in various franchise leagues that he has played. Notably, Fazalhaq played 42 T20I matches, picking up 54 wickets and has 133 scalps in T20 cricket.

Fazalhaq could have been their fourth foreigner in the playing XI. Head, Klaasen and Cummins will surely be the three foreigners that will start the season and Fazalhaq could have paired with them. He can bowl with the new ball and in the death, which is key in modern-day cricket. He is young as well and was sold for only INR 2 crore.