In his first year as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper, will Pat Cummins get to ultimate glory? Having been picked by the Orange Army for a whopping Rs 20.5 crore, many doubted the decision. Six months later, the same people are talking about SRH’s masterstroke. But the IPL 2024 Trophy is still far. To stand on the podium on May 26, he’ll need to field the best possible XI in the SRH vs KKR Final.
Having found incredible success with the same core team, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll make big changes in the final match of the season. One can expect Qualifier 2 ‘player of the match’ to storm from the impact substitutes into the starting XI. One more change would likely be the removal of Aiden Markram, with either Glenn Phillips or Marco Jansen taking his spot as the fourth foreign star.
SRH Predicted XI vs KKR
Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (wk). Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan.
Impact Substitutes: Umran Malik, Sanvir Singh, Glenn Phillips, Mayank Markande, Marco Jansen.
IPL 2024
Need for speed in the IPL 2024 Final?
In the pre-match press conference, the Kolkata Knight Riders captain confirmed that the match will be played on a red-soil surface. That means, unlike in Qualifier 2, where the pitch was spinning, the Final will see a pitch that will have pace and bounce. That means SRH will continue to play with their five pacers: Pat Cummins, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan, and Nitish Reddy. Following Markram’s failure, he will likely be replaced by Marco Jansen. He can act as a sixth pacer and a lower-order hitter.
If the team needs local fast bowlers, they have rapid Umran Malik and Sanvir Singh as well. Sanvir is also an all-rounder and will add to the batting as well. If spin is needed, Glenn Phillips and Mayank Markande can be brought in. Phillips hasn’t played yet, but his three-dimensional skill set will be very valuable. He’s a more than handy off-spinner, can keep wickets, is a gun fielder, and is a proven finisher. Markande has played 7 matches and has 8 wickets to his name.
Editors pick
