IPL 2021: SRH vs KKR Preview – Overseas captains collide in campaign opener
The Indian Premier League 2021 is just getting started and on Sunday, it will witness two more teams playing their opening matches for the season. Sunrisers Hyderabad is all set to take on Kolkata Knight Riders at a slowish surface of MA Chidambaram Stadium. Hyderabad have been one of the more consistent sides in the league, having qualified to the playoffs every season since 2016.
Kolkata, on the other hand, have not qualified for the playoffs after their third-place run in the 2018 IPL. Unlike last year, Eoin Morgan will be starting the season as the captain of the KKR team, who have been in search of an IPL title since 2014. Both the teams have not gone through major changes ahead of this season. Hyderabad and Kolkata have played out many interesting matches in the league, one of which in 2020 had even gone to the super over.
Match Info
IPL 2021 Match 3 – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Head to head
Team News
SRH
Sunrisers Hyderabad didn’t buy too many players in the IPL 2021 auctions. They have the services of their David Warner and star opener Jonny Bairstow. Together the pair has been quite successful in the league and are likely to be slotted in the two overseas positions. The New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson provides them with solidity in the middle order. Rashid Khan, who has been a key performer for them since 2017 is almost certain to hold the fourth overseas slot. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will also be seen in Sunrisers’ uniform after missing the major part of last season.
KKR
Shakib Al Hasan’s return to the KKR club has caused some uncertainty over Sunil Narine’s place in the starting XI. Narine, who has been highly successful for Kolkata ever since arriving in 2011, has been slightly ineffective with the ball lately. And, Shakib is likely to beat him in the XI, purely based on batting abilities. Captain Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins and Andre Russell are likely to be the other three overseas picks. Apart from Shakib replacing Narine, KKR will play a similar sort of XI which they had played with during the IPL 2020.
Probable XI
