Match Preview: With new skipper in charge, Hyderabad hope to get one past fellow strugglers Rajasthan

Come the 2nd of May, at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in the Arun Jaitley Stadium, two struggling teams in this year’s Indian Premier League will collide, with one of them guaranteed to sink deeper into the depths of the point table. Both Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals haven’t had the kind of IPL they would have hoped for at the start of the season. But now with the change in captaincy, can Hyederabd force miraculous returns under Kane Williamson who led them to the 2018 IPL Final?

While Rajasthan have secured just two wins out of their six games, the Sunrisers have only one. Both these teams have played one game each at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, but have been demolished by superior opponents in Mumbai Indians and Chennai Sper Kings. However, the two teams competing have had quite a rivalry in the IPL with six games going to the Men in Pink while seven being won by the Orange Army. The Sunrisers have been able to defend totals four times, but Rajasthan haven’t won any game batting first against the Hyderabad franchise. 

In the last IPL though, it was even as both teams won one game each. In the 14th encounter, will it be Rajasthan’s turn to see off the Orange threat, or will Williamson find enough inspiration to turn the tables, only time can tell. 

Warner's form the biggest worry for Sunrisers 

After losing the last game, then Sunrisers’ skipper said that he would take full responsibility for the loss for his slow batting approach. But it’s not just the slow batting, but his genuine struggle with the form that has been punishing the team. Among the struggling captains in this year’s IPL, he only has Eoin Morgan to beat. 

In the six games, Warner has scored 193 runs, with just two fifties, one of which came at run a ball. His strike rate is abysmally low at 110, not at all incoherence to his career strike rate of 140 in the IPL. It is not only putting pressure on Warner as a batsman, but is also taking a toll on his captaincy, which was pretty much visible during the team’s last encounter against the CSK. Now that the skipper is changed, a more free Warner can tee off the ball right from the word go. Because for a revival of fortunes for the team, Warner is key. 

Rajasthan's middle-order problem

A top-heavy Rajasthan Royals haven’t really been able to get through games on the back of their middle order. In almost all the games, except for one where David Miller and Chris Morris guided them home against Delhi Capitals, the Royals have failed to find a batsman who could bat through the middle of the innings. 

Be it Shivam Dube (145 runs at a strike rate of 117), Miller (5 matches, 95 runs at 123), Riyan Parag (63 runs at 137) or Rahul Tewatia (86 runs at 128), none of them have been able to support or cover up for the top order batsmen like skipper Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler, both of whom have been facing their own demons. This has been a big issue troubling the Royals and as a matter of fact, they don’t even have enough resources to cover them all. 

Thus, either the middle order would have to find the remedy to their illness, or people like Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror and, Rassie Van der Dussen who are warming the benches, would have to be tried immediately. 

Rajasthan Royals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: Match Details

Match Number- 28 

Date and Time: May 02, 2021, 03:30 pm IST, 10:00 am GMT

Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

Broadcast and Live Stream: Star Sports and Hotstar

Pitch Report

In the two games that have so far been played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the first innings scores have been identical- 171 and both the times, it hasn’t been enough, suggesting that the pitch is really good for batting. It hardly has any grass, apart from the amount required for holding the wicket from breaking and looks pretty much like a flat deck. Expecting a high scoring game would be anyone’s guess and the person in all likelihood would have guessed it right. 

Weather and Toss

It would be blazing heat from three to six at the Feroz Shah Kotla and players might find it difficult to negotiate 40 degrees celsius with almost no wind blowing. But that would also mean that team winning the toss would like to chase as the conditions get better to bat at afterwards. Also, both these teams have either own or have had the best chance at winning while chasing so far, so that also factors in the decision making.  

Team News

Rajasthan Royals

If the side is in the mood of experimenting, they can go for Mahipal Lomror as a proper finger spinner bowling option in place of either Parag or Tewatia. Anuj Rawat, the wicket-keeper batsman did exceedingly well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare and thus could be the best bet to replace Dube in the lower middle order.  

Fast bowler in Kartik Tyagi could also be tested in place of Jaydev Undakat and also to bring in variation as the Royals already have two very good left pacers in Mustafizur Rahman and Chetan Sakariya. 

Strongest XI

Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shivam Dube/Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Chris Morris, Kartik Tyagi, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Strong words have come in from the SRH press release that they are looking to shuffle their overseas combination. Given that the release looked more like an outburst against captain David Warner, it would be same to assume that he might get dropped on the day. 

Now, this leads to a couple of possibilities. One - Jason Roy comes in and is given the license to kill up top or SRH look for a bowling cover in Jason Holder or Mohammad Nabi who could also give more stability with the bat down the order. If Abdul Samad is fit, he can replace Kedar Jadhav in the XI while Bhuvneshwar Kumar (if fit) could come in for Siddarth Kaul who has been overly expensive. Other than that, there seem to be no more suggestive changes that the side could make.

Strongest XI

Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav/ Abdul Samad, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Jagadeesha Suchith, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar

Dream XI Predictions / Fantasy XI Suggestions

Jonny Bairstow (c), Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson (vc), Yashashvi Jaiswal, Chris Morris, Vijay Shankar, Mustafizur Rahman, Rashid Khan, Khaleel Ahmed