Bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad will hope a change of captain brings a change in fortune when it takes on seventh-placed Rajasthan Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday. Kane Williamson took over SRH’s captaincy from David Warner for the remainder of IPL 2021 on Saturday.
The franchise also announced there will be a change in its overseas combination.
The manner of SRH’s five defeats has highlighted the frailty of its middle-order. The side is over-reliant on Williamson and Jonny Bairstow. Manish Pandey’s 46-ball 61 in the last match (vs. CSK) will provide hope, but Warner's laborious fifty didn’t soothe nerves. It is possible Jason Holder or Jason Roy could replace Warner.
The bowling will again revolve around Rashid Khan. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has missed back-to-back games, is yet to be passed fit.
For RR, skipper Sanju Samson is back among runs (42 n.o. vs KKR, 42 vs MI) and the hope is for it to rub off on the likes of Jos Buttler, who has only 130 runs in six innings (SR: 127.45).
RR’s decision to send Shivam Dube ahead of David Miller against MI backfired. It needs Miller batting higher up.
The left-arm trio of Jaydev Unadkat, Mustafizur Rehman and Chetan Sakariya has been crafty but inconsistent.
Chris Morris has become a good death-bowling option.
Both sides are desperate for a win to revive their playoff pursuits.
