IPL 2021: SRH v KKR preview

It’s a clash that could be determined by how the two bowling attacks, potent in their own way, fare on the Chennai surface. Both teams carry much of the same nucleus from last year, with the last game between the two teams ending in a super over.

While amply packed with experience, either side runs, at its heart, on the power of youth: SRH found out last year that Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma and Abdul Samad were solid middle-order options, and KKR, too, relied on their ex-under-19s such as Shubman Gill and Shivam Mavi to play crucial parts.

Team news

SRH: All players have integrated with the squad, including Jason Roy, who arrived in Chennai on April 9. He’ll have to now undergo a seven-day quarantine, keeping him out of at least their first two fixtures.

KKR: All KKR players are likely available for the first game, with the squad flying to Chennai for the first game on April 9. Kuldeep Yadav, Pat Cummins and Lockie Ferguson did not travel with the team, as they were already quarantining in the team hotel. The team will play three matches at the venue.

Pitch and weather

As the first game showed, the surface slowed down towards the latter part of the game, with cutters turning out to be an effective option for bowlers. On Sunday, it’s expected to be partly cloudy with the temperature ranging around 25′ C at night.

SRH v KKR: Predicted XI

SRH: David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow, Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan

KKR: Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c) Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy