Sunrisers Hyderabad are up against Kings XI Punjab at Dubai International Stadium with a motive to salvage their season. Both the teams are struggling to garner the victories and have stalled their victory run in IPL 2020.
Sunrisers Hyderabad lost their previous game against Mumbai Indians at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Mumbai Indians won the toss and chose to bat first at Sharjah. They scored 208 in the stipulated 20 overs. Chasing a daunting target, Sunrisers were in the game until the captain, David Warner was sent back to pavilion in the 16th over. The over-reliance on the top three and failure of Kane Williamson to find his form is developing as a big issue for the team management.
Adadaniki siddanga unnam ⚔️#SRHvKXIP #OrangeArmy #KeepRising #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/cr5ErD7zSn
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) October 8, 2020
In the bowling front, SRH are without their ace bowler, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, who is ruled out of the tournament with a hip injury. The team has called in the replacement but it will put up more burden on other bowlers to perform. Kings XI Punjab will look to seize this opportunity and register their second victory of the season.
Here are the top three picks for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Kings XI Punjab when the teams meet at Dubai International Stadium:
#1) Rashid Khan
The Afghanistan leg spinner is one of the key players in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s setup and the team captain, David Warner relies on Rashid Khan to get the breakthrough in the middle overs. Despite going wicketless in the first game of the season, the player has picked up since then. He has nine wickets in five games for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The leg-break bowler has averaged close to 21 with an economy rate of 5.20 rpo. With the likes of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal in the red hot form, it is only Rashid Khan who can apply the breaks on Kings XI Punjab’s batting line-up.
#2) Jonny Bairstow
The English wicket-keeper batsman has played a big role in both the victories of Sunrisers Hyderabad, He has 144 runs in five games striking at a strike rate if 121. However, the slump in the form of Jonny Bairstow has resulted in a series loss of Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, the victory against Chennai Super Kings might have turned the tides for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Against the bowling line-up that consists of Mohammad Shami, Sheldon Cotterell and Chris Jordan, Jonny Bairstow will look to provide a great start and lay the foundation for a big score at Dubai International Stadium. Jonny Bairstow will be one of the top three picks for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
#3) Khaleel Ahmed
Khaleel Ahmed was brought back into the side after Sunrisers lacked a bowling option with Mitchell Marsh being ruled out for the season. Vijay Shankar has leaked runs and it was a cause of concern for the team management and captain David Warner.
However, with the arrival of Khaleel Ahmed, things seem to have fallen in the place for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Though they have failed to win the games, there has been an improvement in their bowling. In the absence of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed has a big role to play as a leader of the bowling department and will be one of the top three picks for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
