3 key battles to watch out for in SRH vs RCB, 41st match of IPL 2024 ft. Pat Cummins vs Virat Kohli

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the 41st match of the Indian Premier League at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on April 25, Thursday.

SRH are in fine fettle this season, and are perched upon the third position of the league table with ten points inside their kitty. RCB, on the other hand, have been disappointing as usual, and languish right at the bottom of the standings.

When these two teams met earlier this season, SRH put up 287-3, which is the highest score in the IPL so far, while RCB came rather close and ended up short by just 25 runs.

RCB will hope to take confidence from that encounter and use it to good effect in this game as well. SRH, however, are in good form, having beaten Delhi Capitals in their previous game and are the favourites to win this one as well.

In this listicle, we pick out the three key battles to watch out for in this game:

#1. Travis Head vs Lockie Ferguson

One of the biggest clashes in this game will be the one between Travis Head and Lockie Ferguson. Head has been on fire this season and tormented every bowler who has come up against him.

Ferguson, who has been brought into the RCB playing XI of late to add a garnishing of raw pace into the attack, needs to be a tad more economical to win the support of the fans.

In this game at the RGICS in Uppal, Head might have an advantage over Ferguson as the surface is expected to be a flat one.

The Aussie has been phenomenal in tackling pacers this season and tried to play shots against them all across the ground. Ferguson will be able to keep up with the former only if he adds some variety in his bowling.

#2. Pat Cummins vs Virat Kohli

The biggest clash in this game will be the one between Pat Cummins and Virat Kohli. Cummins, who has been roped in by SRH this season to lead them, has been exceptional with the ball in hand, having almost perfected the slower bouncer.

Kohli will have to be on top of his game against Cummins and look to play shots along the ground as well as in the air.

The Aussie has rarely allowed opposition batters to play with freedom against him, but Kohli is one of the best batters in the world and knows a thing or two about tearing into fast bowlers.

It is safe to say that whoever wins this mini-battle will end up on the winning side by the end of the evening.

#3. T Natarajan vs Dinesh Karthik

India veteran Dinesh Karthik, who has been in stunning form this season with scores of 25, 83 and 53* in his last three innings, will come up against his Tamil Nadu teammate T Natarajan in this game.

Karthik, who has been one of the pillars for RCB in this rather disappointing season so far, will hope that he can come good at the death against Natarajan's searing yorkers and variations of pace.

The left-arm seamer is known to prevent opposition batters from scoring freely against him owing to the smart usage of his resources; he also uses his angles well.

Karthik, however, makes good use of the crease and can either come forward or go deep inside it to carve shots for himself.