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It’s MS Dhoni vs Hardik Pandya in blockbuster IPL 2023 opener
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE
Can they shed the tag of perennial underachievers? RCB will play six of their seven house matches within the first 4 weeks of the competitors and Faf du Plessis and his males will likely be eager to money in on the early house benefit…
STRENGTH: Top-order batting. Virat Kohli’s latest return to kind augurs effectively. With Glenn Maxwell more likely to be match, the celebs appear to have aligned.
WEAKNESS: Middle-order batting and death-overs bowling. RCB additionally want their battery of home bowlers to again pacemen Mohammed Siraj and Harshal Patel.
OPPORTUNITY: In Josh Hazlewood’s absence, focus is on England’s left-arm seamer Reece Topley to ship with the brand new ball. Watch out additionally for Avinash Singh, the brand new pacer from J&Ok.
THREAT: The spin division, particularly in house situations. Wanindu Hasaranga and Shahbaz Ahmed are the highest picks.
KEY PLAYERS:
Virat Kohli: Having rediscovered his mojo, his kind will likely be essential for the crew.
Faf du Plessis: The Proteas stalwart led from the entrance within the earlier season and emerged the best run-getter with 468 runs.
Mohammed Siraj: In Hazlewood’s absence, the pacer must up his recreation, particularly on the loss of life.
NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Avinash Singh: The former tennis-ball cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir is untested however might be RCB’s shock package deal.
Reece Topley: The left-arm pacer from England will likely be an important cog in RCB’s foreign-player line-up.
INJURY WATCH
England allrounder Will Jacks is dominated out. Pace ace Josh Hazlewood and batter Rajat Patidar will miss the preliminary section.
DELHI CAPITALS
They have been constant sufficient within the final 4 editions underneath coach Ricky Ponting, however want that additional push underneath new captain David Warner. . .
STRENGTH: Powerful high order with David Warner, Prithvi Shaw and Mitchell Marsh.
WEAKNESS: Rishabh Pant’s absence has shaken the stability of the aspect, particularly the center order. With no Indian wicketkeeper matching Pant’s means, DC could need to compromise their quick bowling division by dropping an abroad pacer.
OPPORTUNITY: Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan, who displayed some good kind in home cricket, have an opportunity to point out they’re prepared for the large league.
THREAT: Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav have to swing matches at essential junctures, however can they ship persistently on this format?
KEY PLAYERS
David Warner: One of essentially the most prolific IPL batters. Has the expertise of main an IPL crew to the trophy.
Axar Patel: Has developed into a robust allrounder. His batting means might make up for Pant’s absence within the center.
Anrich Nortje: Led Capitals’ cost within the final three seasons along with his searing tempo and wicket-taking means.
NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Aman Khan: Capitals traded Shardul Thakur with this 26-yearold seam-bowling allrounder. Ponting has been very impressed along with his energy hitting.
Ishant Sharma: Discarded from India’s Test squad, Ishant is again within the IPL. He might make up for the dearth of expertise within the fast-bowling division. Can be used as an ‘Impact Player’ too.
Mukesh Kumar: Bought for Rs 5 crore, this pacer from Bengal has been making all the suitable noises.
INJURY WATCH
Rishabh Pant is out with harm. South African pacers Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi will miss the primary match since are busy taking part in the World Cup qualifiers in opposition to the Netherlands.
PUNJAB KINGS
Have by no means gained the title and are inclined to creating wholesale adjustments after almost each season. The final time they reached the playoffs was again in 2014. . .
STRENGTH: The batting seems to be robust with a number of power-hitters within the line-up. Shikhar Dhawan affords solidity in addition to consistency on the high. Liam Livingstone, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan and Sam Curran can go ballistic.
WEAKNESS: Lack of credible death-overs specialists. Sam Curran is nice in the direction of the tip along with his large yorkers and slower deliveries however lacks assist.
OPPORTUNITY: On paper, have the personnel to maximise boundary hitting.
THREAT: Bowling assault lacks a little bit of the oomph that defines their batting.
KEY PLAYERS
Shikhar Dhawan: The captain, identified to maintain his cool in crunch conditions, can be the second highest run getter in IPL historical past.
Sam Curran: The star allrounder helped CSK win their fourth IPL title within the 2021 season earlier than giving the final season a miss as a result of again harm.
Arshdeep Singh: Was India’s most important man on the T20 World Cup in Australia. Is identified to swing the brand new ball each methods after which bowl toe-crushing yorkers on the loss of life.
NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR
Sam Curran: Punjab picked Curran on the public sale for Rs 18. 50 crore, making the Englishman the most costly participant in IPL historical past. His addition to the crew brings in a whole lot of depth in each the bowling and batting departments.
Sikandar Raza: The Zimbabwean has been in good kind over the past two years. Starred for his nation on the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. Also helped Lahore Qalandars win the PSL this 12 months. A helpful spinner too.
Vidwath Kaverappa: Remember the identify. Pace-bowling sensation from Karnataka who impressed every person in his debut season (2022-23). Gets awkward bounce and has a imply yorker. Was the second-highest wicket-taker within the 2022-23 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 with 18 wickets from 8 video games.
INJURY WATCH
Englishman Jonny Bairstow continues to get well from a leg harm that he suffered in September final 12 months whereas taking part in golf. Liam Livingstone suffered a knee harm throughout England’s tour to Pakistan final 12 months and is more likely to miss the primary couple of matches.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
A brand new-look crew with a brand new captain in Aiden Markram. Most of their abroad gamers come into IPL in red-hot kind. It’ll be a toss-up between Mayank and Bhuvneshwar to guide within the first two video games because the South African gamers aren’t obtainable. . .
STRENGTH: Potent bowling line-up comprising Umran Malik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Marco Jansen, T Natarajan, Fazalhaq Farooki, Washington Sundar and Adil Rashid. Plenty of selection.
WEAKNESS: Below-par efficiency of home gamers.
OPPORTUNITY: The likes of Rahul Tripathi, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Vivrant Sharma and Samarth Vyas can show their mettle.
THREAT: The problem is to make sure Natarajan and Washington are again to full health and Bhuvneshwar stays injury-free.
KEY PLAYERS
Aiden Markram: In nice kind. Was participant of the match in CA T20 and was a part of the T20I wherein South Africa chased down a report complete set by the West Indies.
Harry Brook: It would be the Englishman’s first IPL expertise. He’s been scoring centuries for enjoyable in Test cricket.
Umran Malik: Fast and thrilling. Opponents can have sufficient knowledge on him by now, however he can beat the most effective by sheer tempo.
NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR
Adil Rashid: Will hope to fill the large footwear of Rashid Khan.
Harry Brook: Unknown commodity however has the licence to go bang-bang within the center.
Aiden Markram: His batting and man-management will likely be examined.
INJURY WATCH
All are match. SRH should regulate the workload of Bhuvneshwar, Washington and Natarajan.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
The two-time champions grossly underperformed final season, ending seventh. Can the brand new administration comprising head coach Chandrakant Pandit, bowling coach Bharat Arun and captain Nitish Rana ship this time?
STRENGTH: Allrounders. In Russell, Narine, Hasan and Thakur, they’ve gamers who will be helpful with each bat and ball. Then there are Venkatesh Iyer, David Wiese and Shakib Al Hasan who can play greater than only one position.
WEAKNESS: Unsettled take a look at the highest. Prone to utilizing numerous opening mixtures. May miss somebody to anchor the innings.
OPPORTUNITY: The likes of Russell, Narine and Venkatesh Iyer have the potential to single-handedly pull off a win. Then there’s the presence of some very onerous hitters in Litton Das, David Wiese, Narayan Jagadeeshan and Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
THREAT: If their main lights fail, KKR could lose course. Too a lot dependence on people.
KEY PLAYERS
Nitish Rana: It stays to be seen whether or not the added accountability of captaincy helps his batting.
Shardul Thakur: Apart from clever bowling, he’s very helpful as a lower-order batter.
Andre Russell: Always the important thing man. If he will get going, job is completed.
NEW PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Litton Das: Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter has been on fireplace in latest occasions.
David Wiese: Not precisely younger at 37, however this ex-South African-now Namibian participant could make helpful contributions. Back within the IPL after seven lengthy years.
Narayan Jagadeeshan: The Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batter will be a solution to KKR’s opening woes, provided that he has been in glorious kind with 5 consecutive centuries in List A cricket.
INJURY WATCH
Regular skipper Shreyas Iyer is out with again harm. It just isn’t clear when he will likely be obtainable.
(Text by Manuja Veerappa, Arani Basu, Hindol Basu, JAC Gladson, Saibal Bose)
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com