IPL 2021, SRH vs RCB.(BCCI/IPL)IPL 2021, SRH vs RCB: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper David Warner won the toss and elected to bowl against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their IPL 2021 match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday.
While the Virat Kohli-led RCB began their campaign with a morale-boosting win over defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at the same venue, SRH lost to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their tournament opener.
SRH made two changes with Jason Holder and Shahbaz Nadeem replacing Sandeep Sharma and Mohammad Nabi. For RCB, opener Devdutt Padikkal, who had tested positive for COVID-19 before the tournament, came in for Rajat Patidar.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad: David Warner (c), Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Sreevats Goswami (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Virat Singh, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul, Basil Thampi, Jagadeesha Suchith, Kedar Jadhav, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman
Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Finn Allen (wk), AB de Villiers (wk), Pavan Deshpande, Washington Sundar, Daniel Sams, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Kane Richardson, Harshal Patel, Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Kyle Jamieson, Daniel Christian, Suyash Prabhudessai, K.S. Bharat
RCB's Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal are out to open. Follow all the live commentary of the IPL 2021 contest in Chennai here.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (w), Washington Sundar, Daniel Christian, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Wriddhiman Saha (w), David Warner (c), Manish Pandey, Jonny Bairstow, Vijay Shankar, Jason Holder, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Shahbaz Nadeem
Sunrisers Hyderabad win the toss and opt to field first. "We will bowl first. I don't think the conditions will change a lot, we'll have to play with a positive mindset. The fielding wasn't great, we are looking to improve on that," said SRH skipper David Warner.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Probable XI): David Warner (C), Manish Pandey, Wriddhiman Saha, Jonny Bairstow, Abdul Samad, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Probable XI): Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shahbaz Ahmad
Playing his first game in almost five months, de Villiers brought back his hey days with a match-winning knock for Royal Challengers Bangalore against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the IPL opener. Asked how he manages to do that year after year, de Villiers replied: "It's not always very enjoyable. I try and play the situations that I am confronted with in the best possible way, sounds pretty simple. But fact of the matter is that when you bat in the middle order, the situation changes every time." "It's a matter of adapting and trying to make most of it...It comes off more often than not," the Proteas legend told RCB 'Bold Diaries'.
Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Ben Stokes’ Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 campaign has come to an abrupt end after injuring a finger on his left hand during Rajasthan Royals’ opening game against Punjab Kings. Stokes was injured while taking a diving catch to dismiss West Indies dasher Chris Gayle on April 12 and subsequent investigations revealed that he sustained a broken finger, which will, unfortunately, rule him out of the 2021 season.
According to ANI, Delhi Capitals' Anrich Nortje has tested positive for Covid-19 during his quarantine. Nortje is not the first cricketer to test positive for the deadly virus this season. Apart from the ground staff and event managers at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, several players had been afflicted too.
Delhi Capitals pacer Anrich Nortje from South Africa on Wednesday tested positive for Covid-19, in what comes as a huge blow for the club and tournament Indian Premier League. Nortje is not the first cricketer to test positive for the deadly virus this season. Apart from the ground staff and event managers at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, several players had been afflicted too. [Read More]
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam became the number one ODI batsman in ICC ODI rankings on Wednesday. Babar surpassed his Virat Kohli at the top of the rankings table with 865 points. Kohli now comes second in the list with 857 points and Babar now leads the Indian captain by eight points, the ICC said in a statement. Rohit Sharma is third on the list with 825 points to his name. [Read More]
The Sunrisers despite a valiant fightback fell short of chasing down 187 against KKR. The concern for the men in orange will be the lack of firepower in the middle order which haunted them for most parts of 2020. While it was later clarified that Kane Williamson, one of the key protagonists in swinging around the team’s fortunes the previous season, was unavailable for the previous game, the move to bat Bairstow in the middle order was not enough to lend sufficient impetus for the team to hunt down a massive total in Chennai. Manish Pandey played a magnificent knock, but at times found it hard to clear the ropes when push came to shove.
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Harbhajan is well aware of his erstwhile teammate’s innovations and hitting range. But Yadav’s irreverence visibly hurt his professional pride.
Every time, Boult returned to his bowling mark muttering something under his breath. His response was a series of short deliveries, the last of which was so slow that it almost didn’t arrive. Rana and Boult exchanged a few words but both saw the funny side of it. Boult broke into a smile. READ MORE
On Monday, two teams heavily dependent on their abundant batting riches faced off in a high-scoring thriller. Barely 24 hours later at a different venue, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders duelled in a moderate-scoring, but equally thrilling, slow-burning affair. The result was a tense 10-run win for Mumbai, underlining why they are such a formidable unit in this competition, registering a rousing fightback from a seemingly hopeless position. READ MORE
Kohli and the incomparable AB de Villiers will be the key men again for RCB in batting, with Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell hoping to make invaluable contributions with the willow. He looked good in the first game in RCB jersey, and has the backing of the team management, including skipper Kohli.
The swashbuckling Warner has close to 600 runs against RCB and he will aim to add to that impressive tally. Both their openers Wriddhiman Saha and Warner failed to get going against KKR in the first game and will look to make up for that against RCB.
Padikkal has said he is now completely ready to play his part in the IPL and confident of replicating his stupendous domestic form in the ongoing league. He contracted the deadly virus on March 22 and was in isolation, but has since completely recovered and resumed practice with his RCB teammates. In the event Padikkal is unable to return for Wednesday’s game, RCB will stick to the opening pair of Kohli and Washington Sundar. The 20-year-old Karnataka left-hander was RCB’s highest run-getter in IPL 2020 with 473 runs from 15 matches, including five half-centuries in what was his debut season. Padikkal continued rich form in the last Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (218 runs at an average of 43.60 in six matches) and Vijay Hazare Trophy (737 runs in seven matches).
Seeking to consolidate their position after a winning start, Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore will have their task cut out as they take on a determined Surnrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday. While RCB began their campaign with a morale-boosting win over five-time defending champions Mumbai Indians at the same venue, the David Warner-led SRH lost to Kolkata Knight Riders in their tournament opener.