IPL 2021 | SRH vs RCB: Hurting Sunrisers seek turnaround against patchy Royal Challengers
When Virat Kohli and David Warner walk down towards the pitch at Chepauk for the second game of the season, neither of them would be a leader who knows their best XI in this tournament although Kohli has tasted an early success while Warner saw his bowlers losing all control helplessly. Virat Kohli’s RCB did everything that it does in the IPL, from setting up games with pieces of individual brilliance, then messing it all up through collective failures, before an individual taking it all upon himself to steer the team out of trouble. First, Harshal Patel emerged as an unlikely hero and clogged back Mumbai’s momentum to restrict them on an underwhelming score. Then, batsmen messed all of the efforts although Glenn Maxwell shrugged off all his IPL rust in a span of a few balls. But, AB de Villiers had too much class and pedigree in him to let the game slip away from the RCB. On the other hand, Warner was helpless to see his bowlers, who were rated the main arsenals of the team being taken to the cleaners by the Knight Riders. While chasing, he got an absolute jaffa with pace and bounce on a pitch that was good only when bowlers were using cutters, followed by frustratingly unassertive innings from Manish Pandey and crumbling middle order. Rashid Khan vs the trio of Kohli, Maxwell, de Villiers Virat Kohli has come into the IPL on the back of a frustrating struggle against the leg-spinner Adil Rashid from England, and Warner will bank on his trump card to continue RCB’s captain misery against the wrist spin. Kohli will open the batting and Rashid has been bowling in the phase of the game after the powerplay, hence the highly-anticipated duel could well be averted. However, there is an inevitability about Rashid Khan bowling against RCB’s ‘royal challengers’— Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers. Maxwell batted at the number four position in the last game followed by de Villiers at number five, and invariably Rashid Khan will be assigned the task of booth containment and elimination of the dangerous duo. Whichever way the contest between Rashid Khan and the magnificent trio will go, it will shape the story and the outcome of the clash between the Sunrisers and the Royal Challengers. Devdutt Padikkal— Can he retain his magic? Devdutt Padikkal had emerged as one of the finds of the tournament last year. He did not go into oblivion following the highs of the IPL 2020 and instead piled on runs in the domestic circuit. He was at the top of his game and was second only to Prithvi Shaw in the Vijay Hazare Trophy held earlier this year and the RCB were hoping for him to build on his experience from the last season and the domestic tournaments. However, the novel Coronavirus infection hurt his preparations and he was ruled out of the last game. Asking Washington Sundar to open in his place, RCB have shown they are not looking to go away from Padikkal, and he should walk back into the XI to partner Kohli at the top of the order. Padikkal would be itching to get out on the field with the bat in hand and prove his mental strength along with his mettle with the bat. There have been many one-season wonders in the history of the league, and Padikkal would be more than eager not to be one of them. New ball riddle for the Sunrisers The bowling department was deemed to be the Sunrisers dominating suit coming into the tournament, but they were jolted in the first game itself. They have the luxury of possessing two of the best bowlers in the powerplays of the league — Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma. Sandeep has taken 53 wickets in the powerplay which is the highest number of scaps in field restriction for any bowler in the history of the IPL while Bhuvneshwar Kumar has scalped 48 wickets in the first six overs. However, on the night against the Knight Riders, none of those two men came to rescue David Warner and the runs kept coming from both ends except the phase when Rashid Khan was bowling. Warner needs both of them to come back to their best if they have to stop the juggernaut that is the RCB batting department with the firepower of Maxwell, and de Villiers and the class of Deddutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar. Middle-order muddle for Warner, Bayliss The Sunrisers have taken a cue from the England T20I team that has reaped the full potential of Jonny Bairstow—the number four batsman. The Yorkshireman too capitalised on the opportunity with a brutal half-century that kept the Sunrisers in the hunt of the big chase. However, the choice of Bairstow’s batting position and his success has opened the big question surrounding the relevance of Kane Williamson who could not find a place in the last game. Sunrisers coach Trevor Bayliss clarified that the right-hander is not out of the context and will be in the picture going forward. Another piece of complication, the Byaliss-Warner duo has to find solutions to is the batting position of Vijay Shakar and Abdul Samad. Shankar had a forgettable outing last time while Samad was at with full of promise in his short stay at the crease. Bayliss dismissed the talks about Shakar batting above Samad as one of the luxuries of hindsight, but he too would be knowing the enterprising value of Abdul Samad batting higher at number five position. Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: Match Details Match Number-06 Date and Time: April 14, 07:30 pm IST, 02: 00 PM GMT Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Broadcast and Live Stream; Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch and Weather The pitches in the two matches played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium have been slower and have supported bowlers who rely on cutters to produce good results. The pitches have also aided spinners albeit at a very slow pace. The run-scoring has not been easy at the Chepauk, and the RCB batsmen will be wary of what could well have been a magnificent chance going away from them if not for the brilliance of AB de Villiers in the last game. The Sunrisers too have played a game at this ground and they will do well to recall Eoin Morgan held back Pat Cummins for a long period and tasked the spinners to produce early wickets when they will be trying ot judge the nature of the surface to draw out their tactics to come back after a sluggish start. The weather condition in Chennai is expected to be a bit cooler than usual but that will comes at the expense of good weather of the game. As per Accuweather, there is a 40 per cent chance of precipitation in the city on the night of April 14 and the game could well be affected. Team News Sunrisers Hyderabad There are no fitness concerns in the Sunrisers camp although the management would be mulling few changes in the team combination. Mohammad Nabi picked up two wickets in the later phase of the game but looked docile in the early part of his spell. He could not provide a blitz with the bat either and his place in the playing Xi would be on thin ice with an ever so reliable Jason Holder setting on the benches. The management can also consider bringing the all-rounder Abhishek Sharma in the playing XI. But it would be too early to exclude Vijay Shakar who seems to be the only like for like replacement if the left-hander has to come into the Playing XI. Strongest XI David Warner (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Jonny Bairstow, Vijay Shankar, Abdul Samad, Mohammad Nabi/Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma Royal Challengers Bangalore Devdutt Padikkal seems most likely to come back at the top of the order cutting short the experiment of opening with Washington Sundar. He is certain to play as a bowling all-rounder though and will partner Yuzvendra Chahal to bolster the spin attack. Padikkal’s return is likely to be at the expense of Shahbaz Ahmed whose participation was limited to an over and two-ball long innings in the game against the Mumbai Indians. Virat Kohli would also be itching to bring Daniel Samas in place of Daniel Christian whom he did not rely on with the ball in hand. However, Christian has secured insane number batting in the lower-order and playing the role of finisher. Can Virat Kohli see the all-around abilities of Sams over Christian just one game into the tournament? Seems unlikely. Strongest XI Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), Rajat Patidar, AB de Villiers (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal SRH vs RCB: Dream XI/Fantasy XI David Warner, Devdutt Padikkal, Abdul Samad, Glenn Maxwell, Jason Holder, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Siraj Captain: AB de Villiers Vice-captain: Jonny Bairstow
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