IPL 2024: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today's RR vs SRH eliminator
Rajasthan Royals (RR) and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) are fitting opponents for the second Qualifier in IPL 2024. They are by far the most evenly matched sides in the competition. The last time they played each other, in the group stage game in Hyderabad, only one run separated the winner from the loser.
Their battle for the second spot went on till the last day and had rain not interrupted some games, it would have been even closer. SRH are coming off a loss while RR won their last game. SRH have flown high on the backs of their batters while RR have done the same with their experienced bowling set-up.
Below, we have tried to predict the best wicket-taking prospects of this potential nail-biter. Check them out:
#3 Pat Cummins
These are the kind of matches that pedigree becomes a crucial criterion of predictions. There's no one better than Pat Cummins in that regard. The Australian captain came to IPL 2024 after performing in and winning both World Cups and the World Test Championship - you can bet he'll do everything for the same here.
Like Mitchell Starc, Cummins' skills go up a notch in knock-out games. The Chepauk wicket has taken a bit of swing early in the innings and he'd love to use that against RR's talented but unstable batting order. Already in five matches against them, he has picked up eight wickets at an average of just over 20.
In the last match between these two teams, his spell of 2/34 was pivotal in SRH's win. His best IPL spell of 4/34 also came against RR in 2020. If SRH do well in the Eliminator, Cummins would almost certainly be on the frontline.
#2 T Natarajan
Prior experience of Chepauk, which is different than most wickets around the country, has played a key role in a bowler's success in the IPL. The next two on the list, thus, are both local boys, starting with SRH's other pace ace T Natarajan.
His IPL numbers would show just three wickets in as many games here but Natarajan has played a ton of domestic cricket at the venue too. His slower ones will grip here and yorkers would likely trouble the RR middle and lower order as the ball starts to find some drift in the air due to the abrasive surface.
He has gotten most of RR's best batters out in the IPL - Yashasvi Jaiswal (once), Sanju Samson (once), Riyan Parag (twice), and Shimron Hetmyer (twice) - and all of them would likely be troubled by his four overs which Cummins will use smartly.
#1 Ravichandran Ashwin
The second local boy, RR off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has everything going his way. He was the best bowler and the deserving Player of the Match in RR's must-win Eliminator against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), taking two key wickets for just 19 runs in his four overs.
He has played more cricket in Chepauk than most Indians and has a brilliant IPL record here - 50 wickets in 42 matches at an average of 19.62. SRH's left-handers-heavy top order would present him a good opportunity for a wicket-taking start, even if bowling against Heinrich Klaasen would be the test of his lifetime.
Ashwin is in stunning form, having picked up seven wickets in the last four games with some superb defensive bowling. His experience and the pressure of the situation could make the fortune turn his and RR's way again.