The Sunrisers Hyderabad(SRH) and Chennai Super Kings(CSK) are beginning to resemble one another as batting tandems.
Intent, freedom, and aggression are buzzing through the SRH locker room as Pat Cummins’ facelift following the team’s 10th-place result in 2017 begins to take shape. They have a year senior as their opponents on Friday, so keep that in mind.
On their route to winning their fifth IPL championship in 2023, they masterfully executed the long batting order, went through stages, and appeared to have further improved their explosive batting intent.
The Sunrisers have a batting lineup, though, that can handle anything thrown at them. In that game against the Mumbai Indians, Travis Head has already demonstrated his potential danger, while Abhishek Sharma has set the pace at the top. Then there’s the incredible six-hitting form of Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram.
Shivam Dube, who has struck at 177.09 against spin since the IPL concluded last year, is another prolific six-hitter for CSK. They also see Daryl Mitchell, who cost them a lot of money at the auction, warming up to a similar role.
While one squad values statistics and matchups, the other is more sensitive to instinct and vibe. In that way, it’s a competition of opposites, yet what ties them together is the excitement that their big guns can produce.
Both sides traveled to Hyderabad in search of the venue’s hitting comforts, but they will have to deal with a surface made of black dirt that may encourage spinners to enter the game and force the pacers to bother some of the ball’s cleanest hitters with cutters and slow bouncers that will grip.
Although Daniel Vettori stated that he was still “gearing up for another 200” games, Michael Hussey wavered from the notion of a top scorer. He wished his squad could read the situation more quickly and that the openers would bear the responsibility of analyzing and relaying the information.
Venue : Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.
SRH Probable XI : Mayank Agarwal, Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Jaydev Unadkat.
CSK Probable XI : Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Matheesha Pathirana.
