Transfers made – 1; Transfers remaining - 27
Gautam Gambhir out – Shikhar Dhawan in
Yuzvendra Chahal out – Deepak Hooda in (or use uncapped trick)
Batting/Full match captain – David Warner
Bowling captain – Mustafizur Rahman
Batting Captaincy Options – David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Usman Khawaja
Of the four, Khawaja and Rahane face a far better bowling attack, which throws them out of the equation. Dhawan’s 82* against the Mumbai Indians was his first purposeful innings this season, and one of his best I have ever seen. But when you are competing with Warner in the IPL, more often than not, you get knocked out.
Yuvraj Singh looked in good touch as well, but with better top order options around, I can wait. Moises Henriques would have been a fantasy gold if he plays up the order, but not so much at No.5.
Also read: IPL 2016: Rising Pune Supergiants vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Bowling Captaincy Options – Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman
Ashish Nehra bowled an exceptional spell last match, but with him not being one of Warner’s go-to bowlers at the death, I don’t really think it wise to consider him. Also, Rahane-Khawaja is among the most solid opening pairs around, so don't expect them to throw their wickets away as easily as Mumbai Indians’ batsmen did.
The wickets, therefore, should have to come at the death when these players are looking for runs, and that’s why I am sticking with Mustafizur again. I can only hope MS Dhoni doesn't stonewall him.
Also read: IPL 2016, RPS vs SRH Match 40 Preview: Can the Supergiants rise in time to face the Sunrisers?
The RPSG captain is one of those players who drastically reduces the wicket-taking potential of death bowlers by rotating singles off them; not just that, he gets in the way of his non-strikers being silly too. It is exactly for this reason Dhoni should get out soon today. He brings a lot of caution to the crease that neither helps his team nor fantasy managers.
Warner has shown a tendency to bowl 3 overs of Bhuvneshwar up front after the comeback of Nehra, which is a massive fantasy potential killer, but since the team fits into Schedule Mantra, I don’t see why I should leave him out. I could reconsider this after their match against Daredevils.
So far, however, getting in Bhuvneshwar is one of the best decisions I have ever made this season, with him giving excellent returns in his first 2 matches in my team.
Nature of the deck – It has to be flat if Dhawan can play such a good knock
Uncapped options – Rajat Bhatia, Deepak Hooda, Murugan Ashwin
SRH – Fantasy Clinchers
If Yuvraj Singh can be consistent with the form he showed against Mumbai Indians, it will be very difficult to stop this side. But as we have seen since his comeback to international cricket, consistency has been one of his biggest issues. It remains to be seen if it’s another false dawn.
Moody and Co. need to be flexible with Williamson. It really didn’t make sense to send him after 10 overs were done in the last match; the Kiwi captain is a very one-dimensional player who, at the moment, can only be played as an opener in T20s.
At one down, he comes into play when an early wicket falls. If it doesn’t, they should go for the more attacking options in Henriques and Yuvraj. Even Hooda and Ojha would do a better job.
I don’t see any reasons for them to change their playing XI.
RPSG – Fantasy Clinchers
I am not sure what Dhoni was thinking when he decided to face RCB with the kind of bowling attack he had last match. Scott Boland would have at least given him a frontline bowling option, as against Thisara Perera who has done absolutely nothing in the tournament so far. Perera’s only USP these days is his big-hitting ability against spinners, which RPSG anyway don’t make use of.
If they are to compete, they need to bring back Boland into the team, whose pace and death bowling skills could rough up local players. But given Dhoni's liking for all-rounders, the only way that can happen is by them dropping Adam Zampa, one of their few bright spots last match.
Notable exceptions – Ajinkya Rahane and Usman Khawaja
With Rahane not in my team, I can’t bring him in for just a single match. SRH have an exceptionally good bowling attack, yes, but the 27-year-old’s no-intention approach nullifies it; he could very well help himself to another slow paced half-century here.
The only thing that can stop him is if they are chasing a very high score. I am not too concerned as his best case scenario is 100 points, which I can do without.
Khawaja, on the other hand, looks to attack and is therefore susceptible to quality bowling up front. Leaving him out doesn’t worry me half as much as it does with Rahane.
Match Call – SRH to win
