IPL 2018 Preview: Recharged Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eye of another Chris Gayle hurricane

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  • Gayle will once again be in focus. Image -IPL/Twitter.

    It will be an enticing clash when third-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad host league leaders Kings XI Punjab in the IPL on Thursday.

    Kane Williamson’s Sunrisers have got their campaign back on track with their incredible win against the Mumbai Indians following two successive defeats.

    On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin’s Kings XI Punjab have defied all expectations to establish themselves as the surprise league leaders with five wins out of six matches.

    TALKING POINTS

    SUNRISERS GRAPPLING WITH INJURY ISSUES

    Though they have their opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan back from injury, Hyderabad will be sweating over the fitness of their pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar who did not play in the win against Mumbai due to a niggling back injury.

    The side has also lost the services of express pacer Billy Stanlake for the remainder of the tournament due to a fractured finger and as such, their bowling department is a bit thin at the moment.

    PLAYERS IN FOCUS

    Chris Gayle has added a new dimension to Punjab’s batting and he is ominously looking like a man with a point to prove after not being retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore and then initially going unsold in the IPL auction.

    The explosive left-hander has played three destructive innings since making his Kings XI debut including a superb ton against the same opposition in the tie in Mohali.

    On that occasion, it was leg-spinner Rashid Khan who came in the Jamaican’s cross hairs as he conceded 55 runs in his four overs. The Afghanistan man will be determined to get one over Gayle come Thursday and their personal duel could very well play a decisive role in the outcome of the match.

    LIKELY LINE-UPS

    Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Wridddhiman Saha (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar*, Siddharth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma.

    Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul (wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Yuvraj Singh, David Miller, Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Andrew Tye,  Barinder Sran, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb ur Rahman.

    *Subject to fitness.

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