IPL 2024: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today's SRH vs MI match

Two teams coming off losses, worried of the harrowing feeling of losing two in two, seeking solace in the fact that at least one of them will open their account - that's Wednesday's SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) versus Mumbai Indians (MI) for you.

From the first look, it looks like a match between high-quality pacers and hard-hitters. One of the reasons for that is both teams' clear mistrust of spinners and how they have built their teams according to their pace-friendly home venues.

MI have had a few injuries in both departments and are trying to make sure the replacements stand up to the task. SRH, meanwhile, look good in both areas but looked vulnerable due to their top-order issues at the Eden Gardens.

We don't know which team will prevail as a whole but have made some calculated guesses on which three bowlers could be among the wickets. Check it out:

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#3 T Natarajan

T Natarajan roaring back to form against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) was a piece of brilliant news for India, especially because that second pacer option for the 2024 T20 World Cup still seems up in the air. The left-arm quick took three wickets for just 32 runs (in what was a 400-run game) and showed his prowess in all three phases.

He can similarly expose MI's issues, which might start to look more and more aggravated in Suryakumar Yadav's continued absence. Natarajan's swing would be a big threat to both Rohit and Ishan Kishan and the five-time-champions' lower order could also struggle against his dexterous variations and yorkers.

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#2 Mayank Markande

Against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad, MI played out the lead leg-spinner Rashid Khan while taking on the other bowlers. That might not be possible against SRH who have pacers with the ability to control runs at will more often than not. This could directly open up opportunities for SRH leggie Mayank Markande.

Markande, whose career started with a bang at MI, is slowly coming to his own at SRH. Against KKR, he took the key wickets of Phil Salt, who was batting at a half-century on debut, and Nitish Rana, a brilliant player of spin at crucial junctions.

Suryakumar has been holding MI's middle order against opposition spinners for a few seasons now. If SRH are somehow able to get Rohit and Kishan out early, Markande could have a great time against Dewald Brevis and Tim David.

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#1 Jasprit Bumrah

Like always, you can't have one of these lists without Jasprit Bumrah. And that's especially true against SRH. In 13 encounters with the Orange Army, he has picked up 16 wickets at an average of 22.25. After his first three matches in 2014 and 2016 against them, he has never gone wicketless in these games.

SRH's top order of Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi is great on paper but somehow they haven't fired together for dozens of matches now. Bumrah, much like Natarajan, will bowl in all phases and would be Hardik Pandya's prime wicket-taker.

His battle against Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen would be worth the watch and you can back the Indian to go all-out for just that reason.