IPL 2021: Why are David Warner and Manish Pandey not playing today's SRH vs RR match?

The brunt of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)'s poor IPL 2021 season has fallen on senior players, with the franchise replacing as many as three of them for its match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Monday.

Former IPL captain David Warner, middle-order batsmen Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav have all missed out on the playing XI for the match. England opener Jason Roy and youngsters Priyam Garg and Abhishek Sharma have replaced them respectively. SRH also made another forced change - Siddarth Kaul in place of the injured Khaleel Ahmed.

SRH skipper Kane Williamson explained the decision during the toss, saying:

"There's a few young players and guys coming in to get opportunities which is really exciting to see these guys on show [sic]. So Jason Roy is at the top of the order for David Warner. Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav both miss out and Abhishek Shrama and Priyam Garg come in..."

David Warner has looked a totally different batsman in IPL 2021, scoring at an average of 24.38 - his lowest in the tournament since 2009 - and a strike rate of 107.73 - his lowest ever. He was snubbed from the captaincy midway through the first half of the season in India which has only made things worse.

Manish Pandey, too, has been in lackluster form this season. While his average reads 37.17, he has consistently failed to convert his good starts into match-winning performances. Pandey's ability to increase the run rate has come under scrutiny this season, with his strike rate of 114.36 depicting it fairly well.

Finally, Kedar Jadhav, once Team India's 'X' factor all-rounder, has seen a major dip in his fortunes in the IPL. His run-a-ball 12 in SRH's last match and 8-ball 3 in the previous encounter rang the death knell on his career with the Orange Army.

"Trying to keep as upbeat as possible" - Jason Roy ahead of SRH vs RR clash

Speaking ahead of the match, David Warner's replacement Jason Roy said the SRH camp is disappointed but the players are raring to leave the tournament with some "pride". He said:

"It's pretty disappointing at the moment, we are trying to keep as upbeat as possible, it's very easy for us to slump into a dull tone or so but I think message has been to pick ourselves up and kind of leave this tournament with a little bit of pride..."

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SRH are currently placed at the bottom of the IPL 2021 Points table, with their chances of qualifying being bleak at best.