Abhishek Sharma will have a big role to play for SRH at the top of the order.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
A lot can change in a week. Only net run rate had separated Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians when the two locked horns at the Wankhede Stadium last Thursday.
MI comfortably won that contest and followed it up with an emphatic victory over Chennai Super Kings. It now sits three places and four points above SRH heading into a rematch at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Wednesday.
While Sunrisers mathematically remain in contention to finish in the top four, they need to make the most of their home form.
The only two times SRH’s batting unit, one of the strongest on paper, has clicked this year have been at home on a belter, which saw Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma notch up centuries. With no wins on the road so far, home comfort will be key in determining where SRH finishes when the group-stage curtain falls.
MI, on the other hand, heads into the fixture on the back of three successive wins. After a slow start to the season, the Hardik Pandya-led unit has slowly built momentum to make a surge up the table.
All eyes will also be on local boy Tilak Varma, who will be keen to emulate fellow Hyderabadi and Gujarat Titans pacer Mohammed Siraj’s heroics and spoil Sunrisers’ party.
Dale Steyn, SRH’s former bowling coach, had predicted that the IPL would witness its first 300-run total when these two sides faced off last week. The flat Hyderabad pitch might be the perfect arena to make it come true. Which team will break the ceiling first remains to be seen.
Published – April 22, 2025 06:58 pm IST