IPL 2023: SRH vs RR | Up towards Hyderabad, Rajasthan eager to recreate final yr magic

A well-balanced squad at their disposal, Rajasthan Royals would look to recreate this yr the identical magic which noticed them emerge second finest in IPL 2022, as they tackle Sunrisers Hyderabad of their marketing campaign opener in Hyderabad on April 2, 2023.

The Royals, led by Sanju Samson, are a aspect overflowing with performers, with each the purple cap (highest wicket-taker) and orange cap (highest run-getter) being cornered by their gamers — Yuzvendra Chahal and Jos Buttler — final season.

Over time, the Royals have constructed the repute of being gritty opponents that don’t give up an inch of their territory.

With the likes of two of India’s finest spinners in Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin in addition to Australian tweaker Adam Zampa within the aspect, the 2008 IPL winners have maybe one of the best gradual bowlers within the league.

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s batting must guard towards the wily leg-spinner Chahal, who had emerged the best wicket-take in IPL 2022 with 27 scalps.

Ashwin, then again, could be buoyed by his displaying within the current Border-Gavaskar Check collection, the place he grabbed 25 wickets in eight innings, although he’s on to a distinct format.

If their spin-bowling division is the envy of each different aspect within the IPL, Royals’ batting, led by Buttler, can provide any franchise a posh, given the way in which the England stalwart went about decimating each bowling assault final yr to build up a thoughts boggling 863 runs.

With England’s top-order batter Joe Root too part of their squad, together with skipper Samson and pinch-hitters Shimron Hetmyer and Jason Holder, Royals’ batting too wears a near-invincible look.

SRH, then again, nonetheless appear to be a aspect looking for their toes after debacles within the two earlier editions of the IPL. Whereas they completed eighth and final in 2021 in a season marred by captaincy woes involving David Warner, IPL 2022 did not change their fortunes a lot, with the aspect once more ending eighth amongst 10 groups beneath new skipper Kane Williamson.

This yr, South African opener Aiden Markram has been given the captaincy function, although India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead the aspect towards the Royals because the designated captain will arrive on April 3 after enjoying a two-match ODI collection towards the Netherlands.

With Mayank Agarwal failing to impress with the bat whereas main Remainder of India within the Irani Cup final month towards Madhya Pradesh, SRH’s prime order seems to be shaky, although they’ve wicketkeeper-batter Glenn Phillips — one in every of New Zealand’s mainstays within the run as much as the 2021 T20 World Cup ultimate — to offer some solidity to the center order.

SRH’s energy lies of their tempo bowling line-up comprising Umran Malik, the skilled Bhuvneshwar and South African fast Marco Jansen, although the latter can even not be accessible for the opening match.

The Royals aren’t any pushovers within the tempo bowling division both, having New Zealand fast Trent Boult, West Indian Obed McCoy and Navdeep Saini amongst others of their ranks.

Bhuvneshwar has been with SRH since its inception in 2013 and is aware of how the crew features. Having led the aspect on seven events, he is aware of the house floor just like the again of his hand and the data may turn out to be useful on Sunday.

The Groups (From):

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Anmolpreet Singh, Harry Brook, Mayank Dagar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Akeal Hosein, Kartik Tyagi, Heinrich Klaasen, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Glenn Phillips, Adil Rashid, Sanvir Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Umran Malik, Vivrant Sharma, Samarth Vyas, Washington Sundar, Upendra Yadav.

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c), Abdul Basith, Murugan Ashwin, Ravichandran Ashwin, KM Asif, Trent Boult, Jos Buttler, KC Cariappa, Yuzvendra Chahal, Donovan Ferreira, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Obed McCoy, Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, Kunal Singh Rathore, Joe Root, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Kuldeep Sen, Akash Vasisht, Kuldip Yadav, Adam Zampa.

Match Begins at 3:30pm IST.