SRH vs RR: Are they Contenders for IPL 2022

Robust Renewed Sunriser Hyderabad Kane Williamson

Sunrisers Hyderabad as a franchise had lots of downs in the previous edition. Players lacking their forms to no fixed captain gave some challenging time to the management on and off-field. However, things look different for the team this season. Kane Williamson led Sunrisers Hyderabad looks to have built a stable team in this edition with some impressive buys but will be missing the services of Rashid Khan, David Warner and Jonny Bairstow this time. Their batting line-up is anchored with Kane Williamson, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran and Rahul Tripathi, followed by all-rounders like Romario Shepherd and Washington Sundar. The bowling department has retained player Umran Malik alongside pacers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Marco Jansen and T Natarajan, making it fierce. Spinner Washington Sundar might be seen with the new ball or after powerplay in important overs. 

Will RR feel the absence of all-rounders despite strong batsmen and bowlers?

Rajasthan Royals retained three players before auctions, skipper Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal. However, they successfully made some picks for their team in mega auctions to have their hands on big guns like Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, making their batting powerful. The team's strength lies in the bowling attack, having Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal in the spin department combined with Trent Boult, Navdeep Saini, Nathan Coulter Nile and Prasidh Krishna's pace attack. Having ticked players in most of the cricket departments,the team still lacks more all-rounders. 

Pitch Report

Wickets at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium tend to help batters initially, but the dew factor in the evening might reduce the scope. Thus the chasing team will be at an advantage no matter what. 

Predicted Probable XI

Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Kane Williamson (c), Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Marco Jansen, Umran Malik, T Natarajan

*Australian seamer Sean Abbott will miss the first 3 games of Tata IPL 2022.

Players to watch out for: Devdutt Paddikal, Sanju Samson, Nicholas Pooran, Washington Sundar and Trent Boult

Here are a few statistics to look at

Head to headcount: The teams have faced 15 times in the IPL, in which Sunrisers Hyderabad has an edge by winning eight matches while Rajasthan Royals could manage only 7 wins.

Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler are two of the only five batsmen with a 40-plus average and 140-plus strike rate in IPL since 2020.

The team batting second at this pitch carries a winning percentage of 60.

Rajasthan Royals have the most successful seamer and spinner of powerplay with them (Trent Boult and Ravichandran Ashwin)