Rising Pune Supergiants have had a shocking start to the IPL 2016, having lost 4 of their first five matches. This is something captain MS Dhoni is completely unused to.
With his old team, the now defunct Chennai Super Kings, Dhoni knew nothing but success and more success. The CSK were the most successful team in IPL history, but they are out and there’s no looking back.
Dhoni has struggled to impose himself in IPL 2016. His new team has shown itself to be ridden with weaknesses. The Rising Pune Supergiants bowling is perhaps the weakest in the IPL 2016. They lack an out-and-out fast bowler and really have a collection of seam bowling all-rounders who have failed to perform so far.
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The injury to Kevin Pietersen, as Dhoni said could well be a blessing in disguise as it would allow them to get one more bowler in the side. But they will have to look outside of their present squad and draft in someone entirely new, because what they have is clearly not god enough.
Not much was expected from Sunrisers Hyderabad at the start of the tournament, but they have surprised one and all with their performances so far. The Sunrisers team is without the likes of Kane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra, all top cricketers, who are currently recovering from various injuries.
But that doesn’t seem to have mattered at all, as captain David Warner’s form at the top of the order has been simply fantastic. Warner has been the in-form batsman of IPL 2016 and is well supported by the others in his side such as Shikhar Dhawan, Eoin Morgan and Moises Henriques.
But it is the Sunrisers bowling that has been brilliant. Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh has emerged as the best bowler of IPL 2016. His bowling has often been unplayable. He has all the variations you would want from a fast bowler, cutters, deceptive slow bowls and seriously fast Yorkers.
He has without doubt made his mark on international cricket and is the best young fast bowler in the world right now. Mustafizur has so far picked up 7 wickets at an average of 16.42. But it is his economy rate that is impressive – just 5.75 runs per over! That is incredible, especially when you consider that he bowls most of his overs on the concluding part of the innings. He is a find for sure.
Sunrisers will be strengthened by the return of Ashish Nehra into the line-up but it’s possible that he may have to sit out, with his replacement Barinder Sran performing so well.
The Teams
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Aditya Tare, 4 Eoin Morgan, 5 Deepak Hooda, 6 Moises Henriques, 7 Naman Ojha (wk), 8 Bipul Sharma/Karn Sharma, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Ashish Nehra/Barinder Sran
Rising Pune Supergiants: 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Faf du Plessis, 3 Steven Smith, 4 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Mitchell Marsh/Albie Morkel, 6 Thisara Perera, 7 Rajat Bhatia, 8 R Ashwin, 9 & 10 Saurabh Tiwary/Ankit Sharma/Ishant Sharma, 11 M Ashwin
Match Conditions
Hyderabad has hosted three low scoring games in IPL 2016 and with the bowling attack that Sunrisers have, we expect the trend to continue. We expect to see a lot of help for the Sunrisers Hyderabad pace attack led by Mustafizur. It is expected to be very hot this evening with a temperature of 43 degree Celsius. Don’t expect any rain!
Watch Sunrisers Hyderabad take on Rising Pune Supergiants at 8:00 pm tonight LIVE on Sony Six!
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