IPL 2020: Match 35, SRH vs KKR – SRH Predicted Playing XI

The Champions in 2016 and the runners-up in 2018 – the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have had a tough run in this edition of the tournament. Having made it into the playoffs in the last four editions of the tournament, the ‘Men in Orange‘ have had troubled times thus far in this season. In 8 games, they only won three and lost five.

In their last two games, the team lost to the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) putting them in a situation of despair. There is intense competition for the fourth spot on the points table this season. Thus, they will need to register a few quick wins in their next six games and can’t afford any slip-ups. In their next match, SRH will be up against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). David Warner and his men have still got a few issues to address in terms of the balance of the side. Will that prompt them to make any changes?

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for the Sunrisers Hyderabad for SRH vs KKR:

Openers (Jonny Bairstow (wk), David Warner (c))

David Warner and Jonny Bairstow, after that wonderful partnership against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), struggled in the last two games. Against RR and CSK, they only added an identical 23 runs for the opening wicket. For SRH to be successful, a lot will depend on how these two fare.

David Warner hit one straight onto his pads in the last match. The ball lobed up and Sam Curran completed an easy catch. He needs to ensure that he stays in the middle for as long as possible and gets a big score. Jonny Bairstow also laboured hard for his 24-ball 23 in the last game and couldn’t take the attack to the bowlers. These two must play positive cricket and put up a good partnership together.

Middle Order (Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar)

Manish Pandey tried to pull off an outrageous single in the last game after pushing one straight to the fielder and got run-out in the process. He must realise that he is one of the most important batsmen for the team and should be a little more cautious in his approach. Kane Williamson, on the other hand, has been doing well at No. 4. He registered a brilliant 50 in the last game. But SRH should look to send him in at three as he can have a much better impact on the game at that position.

Priyam Garg will most probably hold onto his spot in the side. He played an uncharacteristically slow knock in the last match and that was one of the reasons behind the team’s loss. He could only get 16 runs from 18 balls and just hit one four. The youngster would want to improve upon that in the upcoming match. Vijay Shankar is a utility player. He can hit the big shots and can chip in with the ball as well if there is a requirement.

Bowlers (Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan, Khaleel Ahmed, Shahbaz Nadeem)

SRH went in with five genuine bowlers in the last match. While this ploy weakens their batting, they might give this strategy another chance. But if they are doing this, they’d want Khaleel Ahmed and T Natarajan to be more economical with the ball. Both the left-arm pacers gave away over 10 runs per over in the game against CSK even though they picked up a couple of wickets each.

In the last two matches, oppositions have taken the attack to Rashid Khan. That has upset the chances of considerably and he should look to get back to his best soon. Shahbaz Nadeem didn’t pick any wickets in the last match but looked impressive. He is likely to get another opportunity. Sandeep Sharma was brilliant against CSK with 2 wickets and an economy under 5.