Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals will have to overcome the unexpected loss of their respective captains, David Warner and Steve Smith, when the two teams clash in the IPL 2018 on Monday. Rain could play spoilsport as Hyderabad had been hit by a hailstorm and heavy showers on Saturday. The threat of a wet weather looms in the city, causing concerns among Hyderabad Cricket Association officials.
Ajinkya Rahane has had to take charge as Rajasthan Toyals captain, and Kane William as the skippers of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Smith and Warner were barred by the BCCI from taking part in the IPL following their role in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa recently. Both Rajasthan, back in the tournament after serving a two-year suspension because of a match-fixing row, and Hyderabad will not only miss the leadership of their designated regular captains but also their able frontline batsmen.
In the IPL 2018 auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) were able to retain a chunk of their players at the auction, while traditionally frugal Royals spent big bucks on the likes of Ben Stokes (Rs 125 million) and Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 115 million) who ended up as season's costliest buys.
In IPL 2017, SRH fell out of the race in the eliminator, so they would be keen to go the distance this season and hope to lay their hands on the silverware. RR will want to celebrate their return to the IPL after a 2-year ban with a win.
Here are a few things you should know about the Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals match being played in Hyderabad, the two squads and what to expect from Match 4 of IPL 2018:
Key players in Sunrisers Hyderabad team: Shikhar Dhawan has been in an excellent form lately. He scored the bulk of his runs in T20s and ODIs this year, and he will be expected to shoulder the additional responsibility to make up for the absence of David Warner. With a strike-rate of 143.54 in T20s, Alex Hales will be a dangerous prospect for Rajasthan Royals. Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan will boost the middle order while their bowling line-up is one of the strongest this season. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma will do the bulk of work in pace department while Afghanistan leggie Rashid Khan and Bangladesh star Shakib Al Hasan form a potent spin duo. Also, Shane Warne is back as head coach and the team would be hoping for another fairy tale run under the Australian, who led them to title in the inaugural edition in 2008.
Key players in the Rajasthan Royals team: England's star all-rounder Ben Stokes and Jaydev Unadkat, the highest paid Indian roped in this season, would have to shoulder a lot of responsibility especially after the Jaipur-based franchise spent a lot on the pair. They went big even after uncapped players like Sussex all-rounder Jofra Archer and Karnataka offie K Gowtham. Royals also did well in the IPL auction by picking proven performers in other T20 leagues such as the Big Bash League in Australia. As a result, they have some exciting new faces in the IPL such as D'Arcy Short and Jofra Archer joining a talented bunch of Indian players.
Team Head to Head
Overall: Matches – 7, Sunrisers Hyderabad won – 3, Rajasthan Royals won – 4
Trivia
Sunrisers Hyderabad have a 20-10 win-loss record in IPL matches at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad; the win-loss record improves to 10-3 in the last 13 matches they’ve played at the venue.
The team batting first won 6 of the 8 matches played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad in last season’s IPL.
At the age of 27 years & 244 days, Kane Williamson will become Sunrisers Hyderabad’s youngest captain.
Tall order for Ajinkya Rahane: Back after serving a two-year ban due to a spot-fixing scandal, inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Rajasthan Royals will definitely miss the star power of beleaguered former Australian captain Steve Smith but will look to Ajinkya Rahane for inspiration and hope their good-looking squad can deliver in the upcoming edition starting on Saturday. Rahane was named the skipper of the Jaipur-based franchise after Smith was removed in the wake of the ball-tampering incident under his leadership in Australia's Cape Town Test against South Africa.
SRH need to sort out little details, says Bhuvi: Ahead of the 11th edition of IPL, Sunrisers Hyderabad's experienced seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar reckoned that the team would need to look out for the "little things" which can make them champions. The 28-year-old leading India bowler said the team needs to do "things correctly" through the tournament. "Our aim is to win the championship but we know it's not going to be easy because each team is equally good. So we have to do out things correctly throughout the tournament and look for the little things which will make us champions," Bhuvneshwar told IANS during an event of the Red FM, which is the principal sponsor of the Hyderabad squad.Alex Hales is Warner's replacement in SRH for IPL 2018: England batsman Alex Hales is replacing the banned Australian opener David Warner in the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad for the 11th edition of IPL. Hales was bought for his base price of Rs 10 million as a replacement for 31-year-old Warner, who was barred from taking part in IPL-2018 by the BCCI after Cricket Australia (CA) handed him a one-year ban for his role in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
Sunrisers Hyderabad now prepared to play in Warner's absence, says Saha: Former IPL champions Sunrisers Hyderabad have enough cricketers to fill the big shoes of David Warner in IPL 2018, teammate and India wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha said earlier. "The team is strong enough to replace him," Saha had told reporters at the Calcutta Sports Journalists' Club days before leaving for Hyderabad to join the camp. "If Warner was there, it would have been great, obviously. He has batted superbly for SRH in the past few years and he has done well as captain, too."
RED FM is the principal IPL sponsor of Sunrisers Hyderabad: Radio network 93.5 RED FM recently announced its association with Sunrisers Hyderabad as its principal sponsor for IPL 2018. Announcing its association with the team for the sixth consecutive year, RED FM said the team will sport its branding on their jerseys. As a part of the tie up, RED FM, will do content for both radio and digital with the SRH team, among others.
SRH has retained Rashid Khan for a whopping Rs 90 million: Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan has been retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a whopping Rs 90 million at the IPL 2018 player auction. The 19-year-old youngster entered the auction at a base price of Rs 2 crores and a hectic bidding ensued between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians before Rashid was eventually sold.
Klaasen is Steve Smith's replacement for Rajasthan Royals: South African wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen is replacing former Australian skipper Steve Smith in the Rajasthan Royals team for the Indian Premier League 2018. This was after Smith was barred from this year's IPL after Cricket Australia banned him for one year for his involvement in the ball-tampering controversy during the third Test match against South Africa in Cape Town last month. The wicketkeeper-batsman was picked for Rs 5 million from the Registered and Available Player Pool (RAPP) list. "I am thankful to the Rajasthan Royals for giving me this opportunity and making me part of the squad. It would be my first IPL and in fact my first ever visit to India so I am really excited to be teaming up and sharing the dressing room with some great names. I have made it my mission to ensure my performance makes a large impact for my team in the tournament," Klaasen said after being chosen.