IPL 2021 Preview | CSK vs SRH: Hapless Hyderabad search vaccine to counter losses

Helpless and Hapless. The two words that describe the condition of India’s capital Delhi where the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings will begin their second leg of the Indian Premier League on Wednesday. 

There has been a constant rise in COVID-19 cases in the city and a consistent lack of ICU beds, oxygen supplies etc. Delhi and its people are on a quest to survive. 

So is David Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad. 

They are helpless? Yes. They are hapless? Yes. And they need a miracle to get back on track? For Sure. 

A visibly frustrated David Warner is certainly under tremendous pressure to get his team back in the groove having lost four out of the five matches they have played and are now tottering at bottom of the table. Their situation and condition are somewhat similar to that of Delhi where both state and central governments are supposedly doing their bit to combat the pandemic but haven’t got any fruitful results. 

The Hyderabad franchise too have the services of the players like Warner himself, Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow, Rashid Khan and the local lads but haven’t been able to produce that ’SRH’ kind of a performance till now. 

The only difference is that Warner admits that there are few things where the team is falling behind.

But before that, let’s take a look at how Chennai Super Kings have fared so far in the competition especially after the defeat against Delhi Capitals. 

CSK captain MS Dhoni is generally up for the challenges and he took one when his side was up against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB were in sublime touch before facing CSK in Mumbai on Sunday but Dhoni’s team certainly made a mockery of their form. 

Chennai handed a thumping 69-run defeat to RCB and dethroned them from the helm spot that Kohli’s courageous men had conquered in the early stage of the tournament. 

Well, Kohli took it to the chin and admitted that experiencing such losses in the early stage of the tournament gave the team an overview of what changes are required to get the perfect results. 

Sunrisers and their middle-order: Not such a great love story

What do you want more when you have David Warner, Jonny Bairstow and Kane Williamson as your first three batsmen in the unit? Simple answer to a simple question. A steady middle-order. Sunrisers’ middle-order has been on a consistent disappointing run. 

In fact, the numbers are to be believed, their only win has come when the middle-order wasn’t exposed. A major instance of the failure unfolded in the last encounter against Delhi Capitals in Chennai when they were chasing 160 in 20 overs and failed to go over the line only to take the match in the Super Over. 

While Williamson played one of the finest knocks in the history of the IPL while chasing, he continuously ran out of partners at the other and it was only a late surge from debutant Suchith that helped them get back on track. 

The way Williamson batted, the clash would have gone in SRH’s favour. But the continuous fall of wickets at the other end didn’t let that happen. 

But a lot of blame also goes to Warner’s captaincy. The Aussie player made a blunder when he resisted to send Vijay Shankar who has been in a decent knick up in the order.  

The way the right-hander has been batting, he could have steadied the ship for the team in the early stages of the game when the Hyderabad team had few hiccups. 

A major aspect of Shankar’s batting is that he takes some time to get his eye in before going for his strokes and also helps the scorecard move. And this is what Williamson wants or probably needs. He needs a batsman who stays there with him for a long time and stitches a stand that never lets the side come under any pressure. Not having an ideal pair out there in the middle hurt SRH against DC.

Let bygones be bygones. 

With four left-handers in the line-up and three available in the middle order, SRH can easily have Shankar coming in at four followed by someone like Virat Singh, Abhishek Sharma and Suchith. All three batsmen have the ability to strike the ball hard and can score runs at a brisk pace. 

Ravindra Jadeja’s supremacy 

Can Sir Ravindra Jadeja do anything wrong? 

Probably not, especially after looking at his performance in the last match against RCB.

When the general rules suggest that a bowler can go for maximum 36 runs in an over, Sir Jadeja scored 37. 37 against the purple cap holder Harshal Patel, who at that time had scalped three important wickets and was instrumental in causing a runout during the course. The left-hander had dominated the opposition so thoroughly that even the RCB captain Kohli made a hilarious gesture folding his hands and asking Jadeja to take a breather. 

The Chennai based franchise had suffered a setback after Moeen Ali had to miss out on this clash against his former team due to a niggle. 

But cricket is all about taking the responsibility and utilising the opportunity that a player gets. Jadeja just did exactly the same. He grabbed the chance with both hands. The left-hander was having a decent run in the IPL before he was up against RCB but totally changed fortunes for himself. 

After getting dropped twice in the early part of the innings, Jadeja calmed his nerves down and began to play cautiously and it was only the last over when he went all guns blazing. The left-handed player was high on his batting performance that certainly helped him with the ball too. 

What a performance!!! Sheer brilliance. 

Obviously, when you are playing under Dhoni, some credit also goes to his captaincy but the way Jadeja took the advantage of the little help he got from the track in Mumbai was just spot on. 

After dismissing Washington Sundar early on, Jadeja removed Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers in quick succession. 

Dhoni had certainly given him a free hand to bowl in the slot and not to worry if he was clobbered. 

Jadeja did exactly the same and first beat Maxwell with the pace to clean him up and later on deceived ABD with the turn to disturb the woodwork behind him. 

CSK needed Jadeja to chip in because they were without one of the most in-form players Moeen and he didn’t disappoint his side. The kind of pitch that Jadeja will get on Wednesday in Delhi might work in his favour. 

Match Details:

Match: CSK vs SRH, 23rd Match, Indian Premier League 2021

Date: Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Time: 7:30 PM

Venue; Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

Pitch

The pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium might be helpful for the batsmen in the initial stages of the game but can have a lot to offer to the spinners especially someone like Imran Tahir. With Jadeja, Tahir, Rashid Khan and Abhishek Sharma in the ranks of their respective teams, the batsmen can have a hard time out in the middle. Having said that the dew in the later stage of the game could come to a great effect and the dry ball might just make a difference. Batting first could be a decent choice, but with the potential dew factor in Delhi, the captain should probably be looking to bowl first.

Team News

Chennai Super Kings

England all-rounder Moeen Ali was not included in the XI for the match against RCB after he had a niggle. It is still uncertain whether he would play the match on Wednesday or not. Well, apart from that, CSK are looking in good shape and in-form and they would be seeking to continue that. 

The top order has been firing for them with Ruturaj Gaikwad also chipping in with some runs now. South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis is having a purple patch while Sam Curran is also in good touch barring a disappointing outing that he had. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad

There is a lot to do for Sunrisers Hyderabad. While their foreign recruits Bairstow and Williamson have shown their class, the Indian fans are still waiting for the local players to produce some exuberant performance. With Virat Singh having a very poor outing in the last game, and the Ahmedabad pitch offering a bit more pace than Chennai, getting Manish Pandey back into the side should be a good idea. Certainly, after captain Warner going public about how disappointed he was with the Indian middle-order player warming the benches in the last game.

Probable XIs

CSK: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir

SRH: David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Kedar Jadhav, Rashid Khan, Jagadeesha Suchith, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul

Fantasy XI 

Jonny Bairstow, David Warner, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja (C), Sam Curran (VC), Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed and Imran Tahir