IPL 2024: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today's SRH vs LSG match
The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad's Uppal will host arguably the biggest match of IPL 2024 between hosts SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Wednesday.
The teams are level on points at fourth and sixth places, respectively. The winner will move to number three and keep qualification to the playoffs in their control. The loser would slip/remain out of the top four and would get heavily reliant on other teams' failures to move to the next round.
Although both teams have relied heavily on their batting line-ups to win most of their games, this one, on one of the flattest tracks in the tournament, could be decided by which team bowls better. Below, we have predicted three bowlers who can take the most wickets and put up match-winning shows for their teams:
3 bowlers who could pick up the most wickets in today's SRH vs LSG match
#3 Naveen-ul-Haq
Despite his struggles in the last game, Naveen-ul-Haq has been one of LSG's best bowlers in IPL 2024 with 10 wickets from seven games at an average of 23.40.
As LSG have found success with their Indian bowling contingent, Naveen has quietly picked up at least one wicket in six of these games. He doesn't have express pace, swing, or seam movement but is one of the most street-smart bowlers with a bag of tricks that keeps the batters guessing.
That's exactly what he used against Kolkata Knight Riders' biggest hitters Phil Salt, Andre Russell, and Rinku Singh in LSG's previous match. On Wednesday, he'll have the responsibility to get the wickets of Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, or both in the early stages, while also contributing in the middle and death overs. Thanks to his form, he'd have a good chance of coming on top.
#2 Pat Cummins
On flat tracks, it's hard to overlook Pat Cummins for bowling predictions. The SRH captain is a master of meticulous planning and execution, bowls important overs, and picks important wickets even if other bowlers are struggling. He has shown that by picking six wickets from four games in Uppal in IPL 2024.
For a team struggling with its batting positioning, lacking in confidence, and relying on a couple of players to get them through, Cummis is the most difficult nemesis to face. He'll take the most difficult overs in the innings but they'll also be the ones who could get him the most wickets, depending on the match situation.
KL Rahul has got out to him once in IPL while other LSG batters haven't faced the new version of him.
#1 Bhuvneshwar Kumar
After struggling for wickets in the first half of the season, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has roared back to form with five wickets in the last three games.
His best spell of the season came in Uppal against Rajasthan Royals -- a brilliant, Player-of-the-Match worthy 3/41. Against LSG, who have similar problems against swing, Kumar would have his tails up in the powerplay, also because he has a good IPL record against Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, and Nicholas Pooran.
He'll also be happy to bowl two overs at the death to expose LSG's shallow batting order. If the Indian seamer finds his rhythm early, we might witness his best performance.