Sunrisers Hyderabad will kick off their Indian Premier League 2023 campaign on Sunday as they face last season’s runner-up Rajasthan Royals in the fourth match of the tournament at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Upal.
Hyderabad, under Kane Williamson’s leadership, struggled for results throughout IPL 2022 and finished eighth in the points table with just six wins from 14 games. So big changes were expected from the franchise ahead of the next season. Last season’s batting coach Brian Lara is promoted to the head coach role, replacing Tom Moody, while Aiden Markram is unveiled as the new captain.
SRH released 12 players, including skipper Williamson and wicketkeeper batter Nicholas Pooran ahead of the player auction. They had the biggest purse available in IPL 2023 mini-auction and they spent wisely. Sunrisers signed English sensation Harry Brook for INR 13.25 crore as a direct replacement for Williamson and splashed INR 8.25 crore for the Indian batter Mayank Agarwal to strengthen their batting unit.
They also spent a considerable amount to sign South Africa’s wicketkeeper batter Heinrich Klaasen to fill the void left by Pooran. Klaasen will be competing with New Zealand’s versatile batter Glenn Phillips for the wicketkeeping spot. However, Klaasen will be missing the first game due to national team duties, so Glenn will be looking to cement his place with an impactful knock.
SRH also recruited five new spinners, including England’s Adil Rashid and West Indies’ Akeal Hosein. They are now looking all set for the upcoming season with a balanced squad to mount a challenge for the playoff spot.
Sunrisers are once again trusting their Indian pace trio of Bhuvneshawr Kumar, T Natarajan, and Umran Malik, who took combined 52 wickets last season, to lead the pace attack. They will be boosted with quality backup options in form of Marco Jansen, Fazalhaq Farooqi, and Kartik Tyagi.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals were a dominant force during 2022 with all-round impressive performances under Sanju Samson’s captaincy. They finished second in the group stages with nine wins from 14 games but lost against Gujarat Titans in the final. That was their best IPL outing since lifting the trophy in an inaugural edition of the tournament in 2008.
Jos Buttler won the Orange Cap during IPL 2022
Jos Buttler dominated the last season as he scorched 863 runs from 17 innings with four centuries and four fifties to win an Orange Cap award. Yuzvendra Chahal topped the bowling chart with 27 wickets from 17 innings to earn a Purple Cap.
Royals managed to retain their majority of core and further boosted the squad with quality additions during the player auction. The franchise lacked quality all-rounders last season with Riyan Parag and Ravichandran Ashwin sharing the weight. But the arrival of Jason Holder ticks all the boxes for the Royals ahead of IPL 2023.
However, Rajasthan will be missing their last season’s leading pace wicket-taker Prasidh Krishna due to a back injury. Sandeep Sharma has been signed as a replacement but the right-arm pacer hasn’t played any T20 cricket since the conclusion of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022.
Navdeep Saini is also available but the former RCB seamer hasn’t been at his best for the last few months and is likely to warm the bench for the majority of the season. Kuldeep Sen, who made an IPL debut last season, seems a promising replacement for Prasidh.
Sen took eight wickets last season and also earned a national team call-up during India’s tour of New Zealand in November 2022. He is expected to partner New Zealand ace Trent Boult to lead a pace attack with Jason Holder being the third-choice pacer.
Head to Head Record
Both teams have played each other 16 times in IPL history and have won eight times each so far.
Rajasthan Royals won the last encounter during the IPL 2022 group-stage fixture by 61 runs where Sanju Samson’s 55 off 27 helped them score 210 runs while batting first. Then, Chahal took three for 22 to restrict the Sunrisers to 149/7 with Markram scoring 57 runs.
Key Players
Umran Malik (Sunrisers Hyderabad): The young speedster enjoyed a breakthrough season during IPL 2022 with 22 wickets from 14 innings at an economy rate of 9.03. Umran impressed everyone with his ability to consistently bowl over a speed of 150 kmph and won the Emerging Player of the Year award.
Umran was the leading Indian pace wicket-taker in IPL 2022 which helped him secure a national team call-up. He was excellent against Rajasthan Royals last year with Jos Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal’s wickets and will be hoping for a similar performance in the upcoming game.
Bhuvneshar Kumar will be bowling two or three overs in the powerplay while Natarajan will be utilized in the death, so it will be interesting to see how SRH management uses their key pacer against Rajasthan Royals.
Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals): Rajasthan Royals captain was top of his game during IPL 2022 with 458 runs from 17 innings at a strike rate of 146.79. He scored two fifties, one came as a match-winning knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Sanju Samson has scored three fifties in his last three innings against Sunrisers Hyderabad
Samson smashed 55 off 27 in the last encounter against Hyderabad during IPL 2022 and has recorded three fifties in his last three innings against the same franchise. He has scored 247 runs from his last five innings at an average of almost 50 against the Sunrisers and will be looking to continue his hot streak in the upcoming game.
Predicted Playing XI
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Harry Brook, Glenn Phillips (wk), Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar ©, Adil Rashid, Umran Malik, T Natarajan
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson ©, Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Jason Holder, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Sen
Prediction
Rajasthan Royals are tipped as favorites to win the opening clash as they enter the tournament with last season’s success. Both teams are kicking off their campaign with balanced squads and it will be a close encounter for the crucial two points.
But the hosts are without their South African trio of Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, and Heinrich Klaasen due to national team duties, all part of the preferred playing XI.
Both teams have won eight times against each other but the Royals won the last encounter and have won four of their last six games as well.