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In game three of the IPL 2021, the only two teams with overseas captains square off. It is Sunrisers Hyderabad who take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
SRH have been supremely consistent in the last few years. Ever since they won the title in 2016, they have made it to the playoffs every season. They are once again shaping up very well this year. The top-order looks solid, and the middle-order, which has been a massive hole for them in the past, looks decent as well. Towards the end of last year, SRH sorted out their middle-order mess as they pushed Wriddhiman Saha to open the batting alongside David Warner and slotted Kane Williamson at No. 4 with Manish Pandey at 3.
Jason Holder’s inclusion made a big impact, but with the first few games in Chennai, Mohammad Nabi might get to play, and he is a fierce striker as well. The bowling attack is looking extremely good. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be back to lead the attack while T Natarajan’s emergence is a big plus while Siddarth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma are top options as well, and then there is the bankable Rashid Khan.
On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders also seem to wear a settled and solid look. It hasn’t really been sorted this time around either as they have a similar squad but have added Shakib Al Hasan, who could bat at three, but that would mean Sunil Narine has to miss out. 4, 5, 6 is as good as it gets as Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, and Andre Russell are some of the best T20 hitters in the world.
The bowling is looking in decent shape as well. Pat Cummins and Lockie Ferguson are two quality overseas options, but only one of them might play. Prasidh Krishna is coming off a high after playing for India in the ODIs against England. The KKR management will be slightly concerned about Kuldeep Yadav’s form, but with Varun Chakravarthy and the experienced Harbhajan Singh in the ranks, they have good backups.
Mitchell Marsh pulled out of the upcoming season of the IPL, and Jason Roy has been named as his replacement. All players are fit and available for this game for SRH.
Nitish Rana tested positive for COVID-19 well before the tournament. He has returned a negative report and has joined the KKR squad as well. Varun Chakravarthy’s fitness has been a concern, and he missed a couple of international assignments because of that. However, he will be available for the first game, and there are no injury concerns in the KKR camp.
Key players
David Warner has turned into an IPL beast. The left-handed opener has been a bank at the top of the order for SRH. He has smashed at least 500 runs in each of the six seasons that he has turned up for the Hyderabad franchise. Warner has amassed a staggering 3819 runs at an average of 52.32 and a strike rate of 144.99 for SRH, and in 87 matches, he has recorded 38 half-centuries and two hundreds. Thus, there is absolutely no doubt that Warner will be the key for SRH once again.
Andre Russell didn’t have the best of seasons in 2020. He scored just 117 runs in nine innings and took only six wickets. Moreover, injuries constantly troubled him. However, the hard-hitting Jamaican all-rounder will be looking to redeem himself this time around. He will be the X-factor player for KKR. Russell likes playing in Chennai, and in four IPL games, he has smashed 158 runs at an average of 79 and a strike rate of 166.32. His last two IPL scores at the Chepauk read 88 not out and 50 not out. Thus, Russell will be the one to watch out for.
Sunil Narine: The West Indian’s batting has waned in the last two seasons, but he is still a reliable bowler. He was the most economical bowler KKR last year and will find the conditions here to his liking.
T Natarajan: The SRH bowler sent down the most number of dot balls last year and has been on an upward rise since then. He recently made his debut for India and will be lethal at the back end of the innings.
Preview:
Both teams have plenty of match-winners and are led by aggressive leaders. SRH have reached the top four in the last five seasons, while KKR have narrowly missed out in the last two years.
Both teams have plenty of quality spinners and will find the conditions at Chepaul to their liking, but KKR are the slight favourites due to their middle-order depth.
