Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals are united by one thing – Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan was a star player for Sunrisers and has won many matches for them. He is now back in his home city of New Delhi and plays for his local club, Delhi Capitals.
Dhawan has added experience and solidity to his team and is the biggest difference between this year’s Delhi Capitals and last year’s Delhi Daredevils. Delhi always had young and talented players – but they were short on experienced world class players who are at the peak of their career. In Dhawan, they have a true pro, who knows his job.
Delhi Capitals, thanks mainly to Dhawan and young Rishabh Pant, are placed higher than Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL table. But Sunrisers have played 1 game less. Capitals have won their last couple of games, which indicates they are a team on the move.
Sunrisers to their credit have done well despite a very brittle middle order. The middle order consists of the likes of Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan and Abhishek Sharma – who have hardly done anything at all. Pathan has looked out of sorts and has been a huge liability, even dropping easy catches in the field.
Only Vijay Shankar has done reasonably well, but he has only played as a batsman so far. It’s like captain Bhuvaneshwar Kumar does not really trust his bowling ability. So much for Shankar’s claims to being an all-rounder!
That is why the fit again Kane Williamson will be back in the Sunrisers team. He will replaced Mohammad Nabi, as there is no other option. Nabi has been very good, but since you can have only four overseas players, he will have to make away for Williamson.
David Warner and Jonny Bairstow have been brilliant at the top, and will appreciate some support in the middle order from Williamson.
The Teams
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 David Warner, 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Vijay Shankar, 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 Abhishek Sharma, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Khaleel Ahmed, 11 Sandeep Sharma
Delhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Colin Ingram, 6 Chris Morris, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Keemo Paul, 9 Rahul Tewatia, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Ishant Sharma
Prediction: Even contest, hard to predict a winner here. Sunrisers have an edge because of the home factor – the match will be played in Hyderabad.
