IPL 2021: Match 9 – MI vs SRH – Sunrisers Hyderabad Predicted Playing XI

Sunrisers Hyderabad has not started their campaign of Indian Premier League 2021 on a good note. They failed to chase targets set by the oppositions in both their matches so far. After two successive losses to begin their season, Sunrisers will now face the uphill task of trying to turn their fortunes around with a win against Mumbai Indians. 

Mumbai will play Hyderabad in the ninth match of the season at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on April 17.

Here is the predicted XI of the Sunrisers Hyderabad team for their clash against Mumbai Indians

Openers (David Warner, Wriddhiman Saha)

The combination of Wriddhiman Saha and David Warner worked wonders for Sunrisers Hyderabad last season towards the back end of the IPL. That move was made to ensure Kane Williamson could be played in the middle order. Sunrisers have instead switched Jonny Bairstow with Williamson at no.4 while retaining Saha as the opener for this season. 

The trick hasn’t worked so far with Saha scoring only 8 runs in two innings, less than run a ball. But stats show that Saha is best when he is batting in the top order, it is just that he isn’t good while doing that at Chennai. Despite these factors, Sunrisers are likely to continue with Saha and hope he can turn around his ordinary record at Chennai. 

Middle-order (Manish Pandey, Jonny Bairstow, Abdul Samad)

In whatever cricket Manish Pandey has played, it has been noted that once he spends time on the wicket, he can construct his innings, accelerate with big shots and even finish the game. But, in this tournament so far, he has let down Sunrisers twice in a run chase. Sunrisers would look at the positive side of this, with him spending some time in the middle. 

Jonny Bairstow has been backed by SRH ahead of the ever-responsible Kane Williamson. Hence, the pressure on him to deliver a win while batting in the middle order is a lot. His fifty from the first match should keep him in the side but also on the watch. Abdul Samad is likely to get slotted in the middle order, having shown a glimpse of his strength with the bat. 

All-rounders (Abhishek Sharma, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan)

Vijay Shankar, who was playing at his home ground of Chennai, failed to deliver twice with the bat. He has only bowled one over in IPL 2021 and conceded 14 runs. He could be replaced with Abhishek Sharma, the all-rounder from Punjab, who is an exciting batsman. He is completely capable of having some blows with the bat and can also give some overs with the ball. 

Jason Holder replaced Mohammad Nabi in the side in the previous match. On his return, he picked up three wickets. It seems that this pitch is quite ideal for his style of bowling. He should keep his spot in the team along with Rashid Khan, who will play a key role as Sunrisers Hyderabad look for a turnaround after two defeats. 

Bowlers (Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shahbaz Nadeem, and T Natarajan)

Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded 45 runs in the first match but returned with a good spell of 1 for 30 from his four overs in the next match. For Hyderabad to get some points, it will be crucial that Bhuvneshwar picks his game up and puts up a good performance.

Shahbaz Nadeem was brought into the side in the previous match and returned with figures of 1 for 36 in four overs. He bowled a good spell before getting smashed for 21 runs in his last over. He should keep his spot in the team. T Natarajan has also been at his best with the ball, delivering his yorkers as good as ever. 

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