IPL 2018, SRH vs MI: Five players to watch out for

The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad is all set to witness a riveting encounter between home side Sunrisers Hyderabad and defending champions Mumbai Indians in the VIVO IPL 2018 today.

While the slow-starters Mumbai gave away the game from a winning position against Chennai Super Kings in the season opener, the David Warner-less SRH comprehensively beat Steve Smith-less Ajinkya Rahane and company by 9 wickets in their opening fixture.

Although when two such quality teams meet it would require more than just individual performances to steer their team home some of the players could still turn this match on its head.

Here we take a look at five such talismanic players to watch out for in the high-octane clash:

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#5 Manish Pandey

Manish Pandey

The 28-year-old batsman from Karnataka was one of the mainstays of KKR's batting line-up for the last four editions of the IPL. Pandey has scored 1270 runs for KKR in 52 innings at an average of 31.75. His knock of 94 against KXIP in the final of 2014 IPL was instrumental in KKR winning their second title.

But for the 11th season of IPL, Pandey was roped in by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a whopping Rs 11cr. He was the second most expensive Indian player sold in the 2018 IPL auction after Jaydev Unadkat (11.5 Cr to RR).

Though Pandey didn't get a chance to bat in their opening fixture against RR, given his record – 429 runs in 12 matches at an average of 35.75 – against Mumbai, Pandey will look to score big and take his team home in today's clash.

#4 Evin Lewis

Evin Lewis

The swashbuckling left-hand opening batsman from West Indies has been lauded as the next Chris Gayle for his ability to send the ball into the third tiers of the stands at will. His exploits in the shorter formats made the cricketing world sit and take notice of his power hitting.

The 25-year-old is the only player in the world to score two T20 centuries (100 off 49 and 125* off 62) against the same team(India).

Lewis was bought by Mumbai Indians in the auctions of IPL 2018 for a hefty price of 3.80 Cr. The left-hander failed to make a mark in his IPL debut as he just played two balls before being trapped in front by Deepak Chahar.

Given his reputation, the dashing opener is expected to take Mumbai Indians innings off to a flyer to make it easier for the middle order to come and consolidate on that.

#3 Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan

Out of all the stories that emerge from International cricket, Rashid Khan's rise in ranks must be right on top of that list.

The leg-spinner from Afghanistan made his IPL debut for SRH in IPL 2017, becoming only the second Afghani player to play in IPL. Rashid picked up 17 wickets in the tournament and helped his team reach the playoffs. He was bought by the SRH in the IPL 2018 auctions for Rs 9 cr using the RTM card.

The 19-year-old was right on the money in their opening game against RR as he finished with figures 4-0-23-1 and also took two exceptional catches diving forward.

Rashid Khan was the most economical bowler for SRH in the two matches they played against MI last season. His figures against MI read 8-0-41-2.

Given his ability to stem the flow of the runs during the middle overs, SRH would expect the leggie to put in similar kind of performance today and contain strong MI middle-order from getting going.

#2 Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma

The captain of Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma, has been the backbone of their batting line-up since 2011. The elegant right-hander is only the second batsman after Suresh Raina to score 300+ runs in all 10 editions of the IPL. Rohit has scored 3052 runs at an average of 33.17 in 110 innings thus for Mumbai Indians.

The Mumbai Indians skipper was all at sea in his stay of 18-ball 15 in their opening game against Chennai Super Kings. With the ball moving around he struggled to find his timing before being dismissed by Watson's out-swinger.

But Rohit Sharma has scored 429 runs from 13 innings at this venue in IPL games at a strike rate of 144.44. With his team struggling the stylish opener would try to get his mojo back and bat through the innings to steer his team home in their second outing against SRH.

#1 Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

The two-time purple cap holder is one of the two players SRH retained for the eleventh edition of the IPL along with David Warner. Bhuvneshwar's numbers in IPL 10 are second to none. He was the highest wicket-taker of the season with 26 wickets at an impressive average of 14.19.

Bhuvneshwar was wrecker-in-chief for SRH with 5 wickets at an economy of 6.01 the last season when both these sides met. Bhuvi also dismissed Pollard thrice in just 12 balls in IPL since 2013.

Given his exploits and record against the opposition, Bhuvneshwar is expected to provide wickets both at the top of the innings and then bowl economically well in the death overs.