3 player battles to watch out for in SRH vs MI, Match 8 of IPL 2024 ft. Pat Cummins vs Rohit Sharma

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) take on Mumbai Indians (MI) in the eighth match of the Indian Premier League at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad, on Wednesday, March 27.

Both teams come into this game on the back of losses. While SRH were beaten by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their opening encounter in Kolkata, MI were treated to some harsh reality by Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad.

SRH must prevent MI from gaining an advantage in this game, as MI are a potential contender and the favorites on paper, and hence SRH must not allow the visitors to start on the front foot.

However, the Mumbai-based franchise have not been at their best in the early stages of any IPL season, and this year has not been any different either. SRH will hope that the deep slumber of MI is not awakened on Wednesday.

In this listicle, we bring to you three key player battles to watch out for in this game:

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#1. Pat Cummins vs Rohit Sharma

The battle between SunRisers' captain Pat Cummins and MI's former captain Rohit Sharma will be one to watch out for. The former, who is turning up for and leading his new franchise this season, is one of the finest fast bowlers in the world at the moment.

Poised to bowl at one-change, Cummins will try to sneak in an over or two of his in the powerplay when the fielding restrictions are on. Rohit, meanwhile, is one of the greatest batters of this generation and will want to take Cummins on right from the moment he comes on.

Rohit is also a fine practitioner of the hook and pull shots, which means that the Australian's short-ball ploy may not work well.

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#2. Bhuvneshwar Kumar vs Hardik Pandya

SunRisers Hyderabad's longest-serving player Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has been with the franchise for ten years, will provide a good matchup against Hardik Pandya, either in the middle overs or during the slog.

The UP seamer is known for swinging the ball around in the powerplay but that will be largely untested against Pandya, who will walk out to bat in the lower middle order for MI.

Back as the Mumbai-based franchise's new captain, the India all-rounder knows that he will have to take Bhuvneshwar to the cleaners to help his team gain momentum towards the latter half of the innings.

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#3. Mayank Agarwal vs Jasprit Bumrah

MI's Jasprit Bumrah in a practice session. [MI]

India opener Mayank Agarwal has been at the forefront of SRH trying to put up a big score on the board when batting first or getting them off to a good start while chasing.

He will come up against perhaps the finest fast bowler in the world across all formats at the moment - Jasprit Bumrah. Agarwal will have to strike a balance between going too hard against Bumrah and taking his time before executing his plans.

The latter will have a plan to execute against Agarwal, and it will be interesting to see who comes out on the other side with a smile on his face.

Bumrah has a lot of varieties up his sleeve and will test Agarwal with a wide range of deliveries. A lot rests on Agarwal's shoulders in terms of SRH's hopes this season.