Playing XI
Venue Insights (Dubai)
Highest Team Total : 206/3 By Punjab Against Bangalore In 2020.
Lowest Team Total : 109/10 By Bangalore Against Punjab In 2020.
Highest Individual Score : 132 By KL Rahul (Punjab) Against Bangalore In 2020.
Best Bowling Figures : 4/14 By Mohit Sharma (Chennai) Against Mumbai In 2014.
Highest Partnership : 181 By Shane Watson And Faf Du Plessis (Chennai) For 1st Wicket Against Punjab In 2020.
Win Rate Batting First : 70% (7 Won; 3 Lost)
Top Fantasy Picks - All Rounders
Abhishek Sharma has scored 53 runs in the last 3 matches. He is primarily used by Hyderabad more as a bowler than a batsman, so watch out for if he also takes a wicket or two.
Rahul Tewatia is one of the 2 all-rounders in this edition of the IPL who has done a double of 5+ wickets and 100+ runs. Thus, giving out handy fantasy points in both the departments.
There are speculations that Big Ben might be available for the match against SRH, and if he is it is a no-brainer as well. His record against Hyderabad (5 matches played): 70 runs and 4 wickets.
Probable XI
Hyderabad - David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan.
Rajasthan Royals - Jos Buttler (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Steve Smith (c), Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Mahipal Lomror, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Kartik Tyagi.
Preview
The action on Sunday will begin with the meeting of Hyderabad and Rajasthan in Dubai. After handing Punjab a crushing defeat, the Orange team will be on cloud nine and will approach their next assignment with high confidence and zeal. The duo of Warner and Bairstow set up their last win with an incredible partnership and the bowlers complemented their efforts superbly. The absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar wasn't felt as the other pacers stood up and then Rashid Khan sprinkled his magic to cap off a massive win. The 2016 champions would be hoping for a similar performance again while hoping that their middle order batting fares better than the last time. Rajasthan, on the other hand, are down in the dumps. Nothing is going their way and they are quickly falling behind in the pecking order. Four defeats in a row and Rajasthan are struggling to find a way to turn things around. Both the key departments are marred by inconsistencies except for Jofra Archer, and the Pink team appears to be clueless at the moment. Ben Stokes' possible return might give them a shot in the arm but in a team game, relying on an individual brilliance is never a good idea. They've to dig deep as a unit and find all the solutions to their recurring issues. Can they do it or end up with their fifth straight loss? Only time will tell.
Hyderabad at Dubai: Played 5, Won 4, Lost 1
Rajasthan at Dubai: Played 2, Won 0, Lost 2
Top Fantasy Picks - Bowlers
Rashid is one of those players who you cannot afford to miss in your team. Fresh from a 3-fer against Punjab, he is looking great. He has picked up a wicket each in his last 5 outings against Rajasthan.
With 8 wickets this season, Jofra is a no brainer pick for your team. The last time he played at this venue he took 2/18 against Kolkata.
T Natarajan has already picked up 7 wickets this season and there was only one match (vs Mumbai) in which he was wicket-less. Everyone has been talking about how economical he is and those yorkers at the death, which is an added incentive to add him in your team considering the struggling batting unit of Rajasthan.
Top Fantasy Picks - Batsmen & Keepers
The ever so consistent David Warner struggled a bit initially but has got back in form with back to back fifties against Mumbai and Punjab. Stat Alert: At Dubai he has played 5 IPL matches scoring 209 runs which includes 3 fifties.
Fresh from a 97 against Punjab, Bairstow is looking in good touch. He has scored a total of 241 runs this season out of which 158 have come at Dubai. The last time he played against Rajasthan, he scored 42 (28 balls)
Smith has had a good run in the first two matches but after that he has lost his way somewhat. He will look to bounce back given his recent performances against Hyderabad which looks more than decent. In his last 5 matches against Hyderabad he has 197 runs at an avg. of 49.25 and SR of 130.
Toss : Hyderabad won the toss and have opted to bat first.