Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will face Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad at 3:30pm on Sunday in their respective first game of the 16th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The previous year’s runners-up will take on a reinvigorated SRH setup under the leadership of their stand-in skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Aiden Markram is supposed to captain the franchise this season but he is currently engaged in international commitments representing the South African national team in their on-going One Day International (ODI) series against the Netherlands. Hyderabad finished eighth in the points table last season and they opted for a complete overhaul by releasing skipper Kane Williamson and heading into the auction with a massive purse of Rs 42.5 crore.
They acquired English middle-order batsman Harry Brook for Rs 13.25 crore and similarly spent Rs 8.5 crore to get Indian opener Mayank Agarwal on board. RR opted for minimal changes to their squad but they added some notable overseas stars to their setup like Joe Root and Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa.
These players are unlikely to make it to the playing XI but add significant depth to their squad in case they end up making it to the latter stages of the tournament. They have addressed a major drawback in their XI by securing the services of Caribbean all-rounder Jason Holder who will most likely occupy the number seven spot in the XI.
Predicted Playing XI:
SRH: Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma, Harry Brook, Rahul Tripathi, Abdul Samad, Glenn Phillips (wk), Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (c), Umran Malik, Akeal Hossain, Adil Rashid.
RR: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Butler, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, R Ashwin, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult
Key Player To Watch
Abhishek Sharma (SRH)
The talented all-rounder scored 426 runs in 14 games last season and the dynamic stroke-player will look to better his run-scoring record in this campaign. He can maximise the hitting opportunity in the powerplay overs and can also pluck a wicket or two by delivering some economical overs in the middle-overs.
Jos Buttler (RR)
Jos Buttler | The orange cap holder, with the most runs scored in the IPL is surely a force to reckon with in the second qualifier. Jos Butler has hit three centuries and four fifties this season, with a total of over 700 runs at an average of 51.33. The RR opener is one of the key players who can turn the course of the match. (Image: IPLT20.com)
Butter notched 863 runs in 17 encounters last season and he will hope to pick on from where he left last season. His incredible form was one of the key reasons behind RR’s success last year and the Royals will need him to replicate similar form for them to potentially go one step ahead and lift the IPL trophy this year.
Pitch Report
The average first innings batting score is 196 in the two T20Is played in this stadium and that suggests that a potential run fest is on the cards on Sunday.
Where to Watch LIVE:
The match will start at 3:30 PM IST and it will be telecast live on the Star Sports network. Online viewers can also tune into the action via the Jio Cinema app.
