Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the two teams at the bottom of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 points table, will face each other at the MA Chidambaram Stadium at Chennai on Wednesday. Punjab will be playing their first game here after travelling from Mumbai. After starting with a narrow victory against Rajasthan Royals, they failed to defend sizeable totals twice. Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, faltered in the chase all three times on the slow tracks of Chennai.
Despite being in the eighth position, SRH will be confident going forward in this match due to their familiarity with the conditions. The spinners have played key roles on Chepauk, and they have a better spin unit compared to Punjab Kings.
Key areas to be addressed
There are a few changes that both sides can opt for. The Kings have a settled top six but can add more flexibility in their line-up. Depending on the situation they should be ready to promote any one of Nicolas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, and Shahrukh Khan to No. 3.
Their key focus area, however, will be bowling. They have played both Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith in all three matches despite them going for about 10 an over. In Chennai, they may drop one of them to bring an extra spinner. If they want, they can also bring Chris Jordan for his change of pace or Dawid Malan to strengthen their batting.
PBKS have already used two spinners, in M Ashwin and Jalaj Saxena. Neither has looked effective. Ravi Bishnoi, the former Under-19 World Cup star, played almost all matches in IPL 2020 but has found himself out of favour this time. He may get a chance now.
Hyderabad’s issue is with their inexperienced middle order, where the Indian batters have failed to deliver the late charges while chasing. With Jonny Bairstow moving to the top to partner David Warner, the opening pair seems to be settled settled. To strengthen their middle order, SRH may include the experienced Kedar Jadhav, a recent acquisition. But while Jadhav brings experience and a couple of overs with the ball, he is not a big hitter.
Like Bishnoi, even the absence of his Under-19 World Cup captain Priyam Garg in the SRH lineup is also surprising. One or both of Jadhav and Garg can replace players like Virat Singh and Abhishek Sharma.
The bowling department of Hyderabad is mostly settled with Rashid Khan leading the spin attack and Bhuvneshwar Kumar leading the pace attack. They may continue with Khaleel Ahmed if they want to rest T Natarajan.
Head-to-head
Sunrisers Hyderabad are runaway winners in this with an 11-5 win-loss ratio over Punjab Kings. However, SRH have never won in Chennai losing all six of their previous encounters.
Key Players
Nicholas Pooran: Pooran started the IPL 2021 with two ducks and scored only nine in the third match. However, he can turn any match on his day with his power hitting. He fits perfectly with the requirements of T20 and does not take too many balls to get set. In 2020, he scored 353 runs for Punjab, and fans will hope a quick return to form for him.
Rashid Khan: Rashid has established himself as one of the world’s best contemporary spinners. He was destructive last year, picking up 20 wickets while maintaining an economy rate of 5.37. He has already picked up four wickets this time with an even better average and economy rate. His battle against KL Rahul and Chris Gayle will be a key factor in this match as currently, Rashid enjoys the upper hand with both the batters.
Likely XIs
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Jalaj Saxena, Jhye Richardson, M Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Abdul Samad, Kedar Jadhav, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Khaleel Ahmed.
Prediction
A close match. History will keep Hyderabad slightly ahead.