IPL 2016, SRH vs GL Playing 11:Probable XI for Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Lions

The Sunrisers have picked up well after a poor start

The Gujarat Lions will look to continue their dream run in the VIVO IPL 2016 when they take on a formidable Sunrisers Hyderabad team at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad on Friday. The Lions have impressed one and all with an impressive showing in their debut season as they have won 6 out of their 9 matches and are on the verge of sealing a berth in the playoffs. The Sunrisers have not been doing badly either as they recovered from 2 successive losses at the start of the season to be placed 5th in the points table with 4 wins from 7 games. The two teams have already played each other this year and it was the Hyderabad team which had emerged victorious by 10 wickets.

Also read: SRH vs GL Match Prediction: Who will win the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Lions, IPL 2016, Match 34

Here's how Sunrisers Hyderabad may line up for the match:

Batting

Skipper David Warner has been the driving force behind the SRH batting this season with 386 runs in 7 innings so far.  The swashbuckling opener averages 77.20 in the tournament and has scored his runs at a strike rate of slightly over 168. His opening partner, Shikhar Dhawan, has also been in decent form as he has 181 runs at an average of above 36.

Kane Williamson made a great comeback from injury as he smashed a half-century in his very first match this year. Another good thing for the Sunrisers batting is the fact that Yuvraj Singh is may be returning for their match against Gujarat Lions. The team will be banking on the southpaw to produce the goods as most of their batsmen apart from the openers are struggling for form.

The batsmen need to get their act together even more if Sunrisers Hyderabad want to make it through to the playoffs in the 2016 IPL.

All-rounders

The all-rounders have not made much of a contribution for the Hyderabad side till now in this edition of the IPL. The likes of Moises Henriques, Deepak Hooda and Ashish Reddy have all struggled to create an impression and the team has had to depend primarily on their specialists to do the job. SRH will be looking to utilise the returning Yuvraj Singh's all-round abilities going forward in the tournament. It will be interesting to see if their all-rounders can step up to the plate during the business end of the tournament.

Bowling

Sunrisers Hyderabad's greatest strength in the 2016 IPL has surely been their successful bowling attack, particularly the pacers. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar has picked up the most wickets for his team with 10 in his kitty already, Mustafizur Rahman has turned out to be the difference-maker for them with 8 wickets at an outstanding economy rate of 6.53.

Young Indian fast bowler Barinder Sran has also produced a whole-hearted performance every time he has bowled and has claimed 5 wickets in as many games to show for his efforts. Veteran paceman Ashish Nehra has also bowled decently to pick up 2 wickets in 3 matches whereas medium pacer Henriques has taken 4 wickets so far.

The spin attack has not been too visible for SRH as none of their tweakers has made an impression thus far. As the race for the playoffs begins to heat up, the Sunrisers bowling line-up will need to perform well as a unit instead of depending on one or two bowlers.

Probable Playing XI

David Warner (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh, Moises Henriques, Naman Ojha (wk), Deepak Hooda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Barinder Sran, Mustafiuzur Rahman, Ashish Nehra.