SRH vs KKR: Can Lockie Ferguson play alongside Cummins? Eoin Morgan faces tough selection calls

As the Kolkata Knight Riders are starting their IPL 2021 campaign against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, skipper Eoin Morgan has a tough call to take on the composition of the bowling attack.

They have magnificent options in terms of express fast bowlers who can provide the cutting edge advantage to the bowling line up against a very solid looking Sunrisers Hyderabad batting line up.

Their big purchase Pat Cummins is all set to play in the opening encounter, while there will be a temptation in the leadership group to also include Lockie Ferguson who proved his credentials in the last seasons of the league.

Interestingly, he had made his debut for the Knight Riders last year in the contest against the Sunrisers only and produced a match-winning performance with the ball. In the main game, he picked up three big wickets of Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg and Manish Pandey to leave the Sunrisers in tatters chasing a modest target of 164.

Then, he took just three balls in the super over to dismiss both David Warner and Abdul Samad to wipe Sunrises completely out of the contest.

Going into their first game of the season, will Eoin Morgan show the appetite for risk and play an explosive bowling attack with both Cummins and Ferguson in it? However, opting for Ferguson will tie in hands into picking only one among the trio of Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell.

Leaving any of them will jeopardise the overall balance of the team, more so in the case of excluding Shakib Al Hasan or Russell.

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IPL 2021: Eoin Morgan feels Shakib Al Hasan's inclusion will add variety to the squad

Kolkata Knight Riders start their iPL 14 campaign with a high-octane clash against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Ahead of the third game of the tournament, KKR skipper Eoin Morgan spoke at length with the official KKR website and decoded some of his plans and what they aspire to do in this season to turn their fortunes around. Morgan who was handed over the captaincy reigns midway through the last season feels that the inclusion of Shakib Al Hasan will provide a different dynamic to the team especially given the fact that all teams will be playing in neutral venues. Shakib returned to KKR after he was bought in the Mini-Auctions for Rs 3.2 crores. "Shakib Al Hasan gives us a different dynamic in the team," Morgan told kkr.in. "Given that we play at different venues where the conditions change quite a lot, you have a spin-bowling allrounder who had success in international cricket and IPL at different stages. If called upon, he can definitely deliver." I think considering the possible holes we had in our squad last year, we had a very good auction this year, made some good recruitment decisions and managed to get people on board with a small budget, giving us a lot more depth around the squad," Morgan added. Over the years, spin bowling all-rounder Sunil Narine has been an asset for the two-time champions. However, he has been far from his best in the last couple of occasions and had to warm the benches for quite a few matches last season. In that regard, Shakib can be a good like for like replacement for Narine. The Caribbean spinner was also reported for suspect action last season and put him in the warning list which effectively meant that he could have been suspended from bowling if he was reported again. However given the aura surrounding Narine, Morgan believed in his abilities and Narine did live up to his expectations on a few occasions. "In big moments of the game, particularly last year, you would throw Sunil the ball or you would get him in with the bat because he has been in that situation over and over again; he believes in himself and in the team to go and get through and win that situation," Morgan said.

PSL 2021 to resume on June 1

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is set to resume from June 1 while the final of the tournament will take place on June 20. PSL was earlier postponed with immediate effects after a rise in COVID-19 cases within the franchises.

Sunrisers get ready for the Knights challenge in their IPL 2021 opener

Sunrisers Hyderabad start their IPL campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders tonight, April 11 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. They are all geared up for the big day, having gone through two practice games and some serious net sessions. Speaking about the big occasion, VVS Laxman, their batting consultant and mentor said, “We have played two practice games and I am very happy with the way we are standing right now.” He further said that backing own strength is more important than anything else in big competitions like IPL. “It’s all about soaking up the pressure in that first big game and taking it from there,” added the 46-year-old. David Warner, the skipper of the side was equally geared up saying that he was very excited about getting involved in a lot of practice before the big game. “We have obviously had a taste of practice tonight and the boys are ready to go. They have trained hard, prepared well and had two good practice games,” Warner said. The southpaw was enthralled by the support that the team is getting on various social media. “I know our supporters are one hundred per cent behind us. I wish they could come, but we will try to entertain them and win some games,” he said. SRH will not have the services of their latest import Jason Roy for the first game and thus looking at their team combination would be interesting as well.

David Warner vs Sunil Narine rivalry resumes as SRH, KKR begin their IPL 2021 campaign

As the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Kolkata Knight Riders are gearing up to start their campaign in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League, the game will also offer many contests within a contest. Out of all the riveting battles to watch out for, the duel between Sunrisers’ skipper David Warner and Knight Riders’ ace spinner Sunil Narine will be prominent of them all. The Sunrisers will back their leader to come at the top of the mystery spinner once again as he has done over a long period of time in IPL. In total, Warner has taken 190 runs off a total of 122 balls bowled by Narine with a staggering strike rate of 155.7 runs per 100 balls over a long period of time in IPL. The Australian left-hander has hit Narine for as many as 15 fours and 10 sixes. Overall, David Warner has been an IPL legend for over an 11-year long career in the cash-rich league. He has amassed 5254 runs from 142 matches with an average of 42.71 and a strike rate of 141.54 runs per 100 balls. On the other hand, Sunil Narine, too, has been phenomenal with the ball for the Kolkata Knight Riders. However, his stocks have nosedived in the last few seasons with him struggling due to suspected action and batsmen finding out tricks to negate his variations. He has taken 127 wickets from 120 matches with an astounding average-economy rate combo of 24.77 runs per wicket and 6.77 runs per over for over a nine-year period in the IPL. The contest between Warner and Narine will offer a riveting spectacle for the fans of both franchises and the individual players. However, for Warner to get into the stage of taking on Narine, he will have to first take on and win a duel against his countryman Pat Cummins.