The third match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 will be played between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday. Perennial contenders SRH will be commencing their campaign with high expectations as they have a competitive squad under the captaincy of David Warner. While the overseas batting slot, currently a toss-up between Kane Williamson and Jonny Bairstow, but they have a lot of depth within their Indian contingency.
The addition of Kedar Jadhav will be strengthening SRH’s middle-order, which has been a matter of concern for them over the last few years. But all eyes will be on the duo of Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who will lead SRH’s bowling attack in IPL 2021. Not to mention T Natarajan, who is known for his accurate bowling in the slog overs. But the Sunrisers will need to be on their toes against KKR, who look a more settled unit than last time around.
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While KKR has some match-winners like Shubman Gill and Pat Cummins, all eyes will be on Andre Russell, who was adjudged the MVP in IPL 2019. While KKR can’t be taken lightly by any team, they will head into their first IPL 2021 game as underdogs. With premier leg-spinner Rashid Khan set to star for the Sunrisers, the Kolkata Knight Riders will have their hands full come Sunday. Either way, the fans will be expecting a thrilling contest between the two as they look to start their IPL 2021 campaigns with an emphatic win.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
Jonny Bairstow has been going through a phenomenal batting form but SRH management will be expected to add Wriddhiman Saha as their opener following his cameos at the end of last season. Kane Williamson in the middle order will be ideal in these conditions as well. Considering the number of southpaw in the opposition ranks and with the surface expected to aid spin, Mohammad Nabi will also be expected to play the game ahead of Jason Holder.
Probable XI: David Warner (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Vijay Shankar/Kedar Jadhav, Mohammad Nabi, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
The KKR team management will be having the headache of taking a tough call of whom to add between, Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine in the opening game of IPL 2021. Harbhajan Singh’s familiarity with the conditions will keep him in the mix. However, they are pretty clear on the batting front.
Probable XI: Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (C), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan/Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
