SRH Predicted Playing 11 vs RR for Qualifier 2 of IPL 2024
The SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) will face off against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Qualifier 2 of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday, May 24. The winner will seal their spot in the IPL 2024 final, where the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lie in wait.
Hyderabad were rolled over in Qualifier 1 as they barely put up a fight before losing by eight wickets. The Orange Army will have to consider some long-overdue changes to their side against a Rajasthan outfit that is on the back of a morale-boosting, streak-snapping Eliminator win.
SRH's squad for IPL 2024: Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Heinrich Klaasen, Mayank Agarwal, Anmolpreet Singh, Upendra Yadav, Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Abhishek Sharma, Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, Sanvir Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, T Natarajan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Travis Head, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Pat Cummins (c), Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Singh, Jhathavedh Subramanyan.
On that note, here is SRH's predicted playing XII (including one impact sub) for Qualifier 2 of IPL 2024 against RR.
Openers: Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma
SRH's openers didn't deliver in Qualifier 1. Travis Head comes into this game on the back of consecutive ducks, with Arshdeep Singh and Mitchell Starc rattling his stumps. He has a good record against Trent Boult, though, and will want to take the Kiwi pacer on.
Abhishek Sharma, meanwhile, will need to bat through the powerplay. He will be key while countering RR's spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Middle order: Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abdul Samad, Glenn Phillips, Shahbaz Ahmed
Hyderabad have benefited from Rahul Tripathi's fighting contributions in the last two matches. The veteran batter, along with Nitish Kumar Reddy, will need to make the most of the time they spend in the middle before the likes of Heinrich Klaasen can be unleashed.
Sanvir Singh hasn't had much of an impact in IPL 2024 with the bat, and he could be sacrificed for this key clash. Glenn Phillips is yet to get a game this year, but he could be brought in to add some weight to the middle order and give the hitters some wiggle room.
Aiden Markram is another option, but with the top four slots being fixed, it's hard to see where he fits in.
Shahbaz Ahmed has done nothing of note in IPL 2024, but he is expected to retain his place. He, along with Abdul Samad, will make up the lower-middle order.
Lower order: Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, and Pat Cummins will make up the pace attack. All three bowlers are in decent form.
Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, however, has been unimpressive lately. If SRH are to field an additional overseas batter, he will need to be replaced by a domestic bowler, ideally Mayank Markande.
SRH's predicted playing XII (inc. impact sub): Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Glenn Phillips, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande.
Other impact sub candidates: Jaydev Unadkat, Umran Malik, Mayank Agarwal, Washington Sundar, Sanvir Singh.