SRH Playing 11 vs KKR- IPL 2024, Match 3

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have a problem of plenty heading into the IPL 2024 season opener against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on March 23. They finished last in IPL 2023 and would like to change the script this season.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have added six players in the IPL 2024 auction. Travis Head (Rs. 6.80 crore), Wanindu Hasaranga (Rs. 1.5 crore), Pat Cummins (Rs. 20.50 crore), Jaydev Unadkat (Rs. 1.60 crore), Akash Singh (Rs. 20 lakhs), Jhathavedh Subramanyan (Rs. 20 lakhs) were the players that they bought at the auction.

They look thin on experienced Indian batters, Indian bowlers, and Indian spinners. Thus it is their overseas contingent of players who will have to take the responsibility of doing the most for the team.

They face problems picking their best four players in the XI. They also have problems of not having an Indian seamer to depend upon other than Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The likes of T Natarajan and Umran Malik do not have any experience of international cricket in recent times.

Meanwhile, Wanindu Hasaranga will not be available for the first three games as he will be playing Test matches for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh. His availability for the fourth game is yet unknown.

In this article, we predict Sunrisers Hyderabad’s XI against KKR at Eden Gardens. Picking an XI based on the Eden track might be a problem for the management.

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SRH Playing 11 vs KKR- IPL 2024, Match 3

Travis Head

Head will open the batting for SRH. They paid nearly 7 crores to rope him in the auction. The management would ideally hope he gives the team a blazing start. He was a part of Australia’s WTC and World Cup-winning teams last year.

Abhishek Sharma / Mayank Agarwal

The management might keep Abhishek Sharma as the opener or might want to go with Mayank Agarwal to maintain the left-right combination. Both batters did not have a good IPL 2023 as they struggled to score runs.

Rahul Tripathi

Tripathi will slot in at three. He scored over 400 runs in IPL 2022 and just 273 runs in IPL 2023. He will be up against the KKR spinners with whom he played alongside at KKR in IPL 2020 and 2021. Tripathi needs to have a big season for SRH.

Heinrich Klaasen (WK)

Klaasesn is the key batter for SRH at four. He scored nearly 450 runs for the franchise last IPL. Since then he has almost scored 700 runs in T20 cricket at a strike rate of 195 in 22 innings. He needs to have another good season for SRH as well.

Glenn Phillips

Phillips can bat at number five. In case he is selected that will take out Aiden Markram as the other option. Both can bowl spin and hence can be the spin-bowling all-rounder that SRH needs in their lineup.

Washington Sundar

Sundar can slot in at six as the other spin-bowling all-rounder. He is yet to make an impact in the IPL and needs to have a big season if he wants to be a part of the T20 World Cup squad. He has not been given a long run for the sides he has played for.

Pat Cummins (C)

Cummins can bat at seven. He was chosen as the skipper of the side ahead of the IPL season. He had a great time as an international captain winning the WTC final and the World Cup final against India. He does not have proud numbers yet in the IPL.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvi can be the experienced Indian seamer in the playing XI at eight. He picked 16 wickets last season. He is not being considered for the Indian team as of now. He has 170 wickets overall in the IPL and has 146 for SRH.

Umran Malik

Malik might be the second Indian pacer in the lineup. He picked up 22 wickets in IPL 2022 which earned him a national debut across white-ball formats. He picked up just five wickets in 8 matches last year.

Mayank Markande

Markande can the third spinner in the playing XI depending upon the conditions. He can be given the ball against the KKR big-hitters. He picked up 12 wickets last season for his franchise at a decent economy of 7.89.

T Natarajan

Natarajan concludes the likely SRH playing XI. He picked up 10 wickets for SRH last season and has 46 wickets for the franchise overall. He did not play for India between the two IPL seasons.

Impact Sub-Abdul Samad

Abdul Samad can be used as the Impact Sub by Sunrisers Hyderabad as the 15-20-ball batter. He has been given consistent chances but is yet to make his mark in the IPL.

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