Arguably the best T20 batsman and bowler in the world currently- Heinrich Klaasen and Jasprit Bumrah- have faced off in this format for just one ball. And all Klaasen did on that ball was to take a single to change strike. The contest occurred in the T20 series between India and South Africa in 2018.
Six years since then and both the maestros of their trades have not come against each other somehow. It could have been witnessed by fans last year when Klaasen was a regular feature in SRH, but Bumrah missed the IPL due to injury. But it is all set for an exhibition between two giants of the game in Hyderabad when Sunrisers Hyderabad will host Mumbai Indians for match 8 of this season.
In their first matches, both the players breathed fire albeit in a losing cause. Bumrah bowled precisely giving away just 14 runs in 4 overs in a total of 168, while Klaasen almost pulled off a heist with his blinder of an innings at Eden Gardens.
Except for these two stars, both teams boast of many superstars at their disposal and a cracker of a game can be in the offering for the fans. It is the first match of the season in Hyderabad and the spectators must brace themselves to behold the cricketing pearls in the City of Pearls.
Mumbai Indians-
Hardik Pandya holding the new ball against Gujarat Titans was a bit of surprise for many, but MI’s batting coach Keiron Pollard defended his captain’s move by saying that he has done it for Gujarat Titans as well and he is quite adept at moving the new ball. So, we can expect Hardik to continue with this in the coming matches also.
It is also to be seen if Hardik Pandya moves himself up in the batting order as he came to bat at number 7 in the first match. It is noted that he was regularly batting at number 4 in Gujarat Titans.
Luke Wood was out of sorts in the first game, but he is a quality bowler. So, MI replacing him with Nuwan Thusara is anyone’s guess.
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Sunrisers Hyderabad-
Pat Cummins coming to bat at number 9 against KKR talks about the batting depth of Sunrisers. SRH would be bolstered with the way Shahbaz Ahmed delivered when he was sent ahead of experienced Marco Jansen and Pat Cummins.
Their bowling was far better than what it looked in the first match when Russell mania struck them at a batting paradise in Kolkata. While T Natarajan, Pat Cummins and Mayank Markande were among the wickets, one can be really hopeful for Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Marco Jansen to join the party without much delay to make their bowling attack a scary one.
Probable Playing XIs-
Mumbai Indians-
Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (WK), Naman Dhir, Tilak Verma, Tim David, Hardik Pandya (C), Shams Mulani, Gerald Coetzee, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Luke Wood
(Impact subs- Dewald Brevis, Nuwan Thushara, Nehal Wadhera)
Sunrisers Hyderabad-
Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (C), Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan
(Impact subs- Abhishek Sharma, Washington Sundar, Umran Malik)
Stats corner and interesting things-
- In the last six matches between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad, MI has been victorious 5 times.
- Jasprit Bumrah is 2 wickets away from 150 wickets in IPL.
- Pat Cummins needs 4 wickets for 50 IPL wickets.
- Abhishek Sharma needs 76 runs to complete 1000 runs in IPL.
- Jasprit Bumrah will be up against Heinrich Klaasen for the first time in the IPL.
Pitch and Weather report-
The summer is catching up in Hyderabad, but lesser humidity will make things a little easier for players. The temperature will be around 30 degree Celsius during the match hours with no signs of rain interruptions.
Generally a batting heaven, the pitch at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium assists spinners as well. Winning the toss and bowl should be the preference of captains.
Match details-
Date & Time- 7:30 PM IST, 26 March 2024
Venue- Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
Live Broadcast- Star Sports Network
Live Streaming- Jio Cinema App
Dream XI Team-
