5 Players to watch out for in the IPL 2016 Eliminator

We are into the playoffs of IPL 2016. Gujarat Lions, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders are the top four teams. While RCB and GL play the first Qualifier at Bangalore. SRH will meet KKR in the eliminator at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, New Delhi. The winner of this match will have to play against the loser of the first Qualifier for a spot in the finals. As the matches frame out, here we have a look at the top 5 players to watch out for in the eliminator: 1. Sunil Narine: Gautam Gambhir and Sunil Narine KKR.(Photo Source: BCCI) Sunil Narine is back in form with his mystery spin and he showcased his skills in their last league stages match against the same team SRH. He bagged 3 wickets and gave away just 26 runs. Narine has an overall tally of 11 wickets in 10 matches in this IPL. KKR v SRH preview – IPL 9, Eliminator Preview: KKR, SRH lock horns for a place in the finals Normally, an off-spinner has the stock delivery, the arm ball and the faster one and if you are really good with the variation, you will have the doosra as well. In addition to these, Narine bowls the carrom ball, the top spinner, the leg-spinner and the leg-spinning googly, which makes him a mystery spinners in real sense. In a big match like this, Narine is expected to stand up for his team. For SRH: Work him for singles, unless you are to the pitch of the ball or if you know exactly which way it’s going to turn. For KKR: Bring him in the powerplay, attack with close in fielders. 2. Yuvraj Singh: Yuvraj Singh. (Photo Source: BCCI) As commentators say, ‘cometh the hour, cometh the champion’, and Yuvraj Singh is one of those players who loves to perform at the bigger stage. Yuvraj can single-handedly win the match for the side, who has the ability to hit big and play sensibly, based on the conditions. He is good against spin and pace and has got his touch back in the last few games. Yuvi is a bit vulnerable early on in his innings against short pitch deliveries and that is where KKR need to plan against him. Getting in the offie Narine won’t be a bad choice either. For SRH: Yuvraj should take time early on to settle in, and blast towards the end. For KKR: Try to dismiss him as early as possible. Narine would definitely test him early on. 3. Yusuf Pathan: Yusuf Pathan of Kolkata Knight Riders. (Photo Source: IANS) Yusuf Pathan is always known to be a big hitter and this edition of the IPL, he had shown how consistent he can be even with a high strike-rate. The player who has the second most number of ‘Man of the match’ awards in IPL, is well capable of winning matches on his own. When these two teams played against each other last time, Yusuf Pathan scored 52 runs off 34 balls at a strike-rate of 152.94, with 3 fours and 2 sixes and helps his side post a huge total of 171 on a turning track. And they went to win the match by 22 runs and qualified for the playoffs. Yusuf has scored 359 runs in this edition of IPL and will be hungry for more. If SRH has to win, they will have to get him out early, otherwise, Yusuf will run away with the match. For SRH: Test him with the pacers when he is new at the crease, getting in a spinner is fodder for him. For KKR: Play the way he has been doing thus far in the season. 4. Mustafizur Rahman: Mustafizur Rahman. (Photo Source: BCCI) The latest fast bowling sensation from Bangladesh, Mustafizur Rahman, has been highly successful in the shortest format of the game. Most of the batsmen find it hard to pick his variations and accurate yorkers. But the batsmen seem to have found a few ways to tackle him. When these two teams played against each other for the last time, Manish Pandey was playing with a different strategy to counter Mustafizur. Pandey was moving his front leg away and trying to work him through either mid-wicket or through the point region. It will be interesting to see what strategy KKR opt for this game. For SRH: Warner should get him in to build pressure. He has the tendency to wait and sometimes it’s a bit too late when he gets him in. For KKR: Right-handed batsmen should open up their left leg to counter the yorker and with that you will get time to play the slower off-cutters through point or cover-point 5. David Warner: David Warner. (Photo Source: BCCI) The skipper of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, David Warner was the key to their success so far this season. Whenever he scores big, they have won and that is the main reason why they have qualified. Warner had scored the most number of runs among batsmen from both these teams. His wicket would be one of the keys to success for KKR and they will be surely planning for it as we saw in the last match, with four off the first three overs being bowled by spinners. Warner isn’t really comfortable against spin, but still had his own ways to counter through. Against spin, Warner always stays outside leg stump and tries to play them through the offside and thus most of the spinners are bowling it into the stump to cut down the angles and stop him from scoring. It would be a great contest between Warner and Narine. In the last match, Narine had the better of him but that was at the KKR’s home turf, Eden Gardens and here at Firoz Shah Kotla, it could be a different story. For SRH: Stay. If he stays there, runs are definitely going to come and will come at really quick pace. For KKR: Bring on the spinners and attack right from the onset.

Topics

Featured Section

Current Series

IPL 2025 Auction

IPL Teams

Cricket Fantasy Tips

Cricket Stats

ICC Rankings

Interviews

Twitter Reactions

Cricket Appeal

Social Tracker

More Links

# Follow Us

Other Sports

5 Players to watch out for in the IPL 2016 Eliminator

4. Mustafizur Rahman:

Latest Articles

India's Test stats and records at The Gabba, Brisbane

Harbhajan Singh on gap between Perth and Adelaide Test

Bihar government completes Moin-ul-Haq stadium transfer