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They say the start is very important in a T20 game and the Sunrisers are gifted to have a captain in David Warner, who is ready to lead from the front every time he takes the field. The Australian dasher has been very authoritative in his approach with the bat and has never shied away to put the loose ball away to the fence. Shikhar Dhawan’s form was a big concern for SRH, but the Indian opener managed to get amongst the runs in the last two games. While he scored a fifty against Gujarat Lions, he made a patient 45 in the last game against Kings XI Punjab and spent quality time out in the middle. It goes without saying that Warner’s belligerence at the top has given Dhawan ample space to slowly pick up his game.

The middle-order though has not been tested much in pressure situations so far in the tournament. Barring the first two games, they haven’t had much to do as Warner, who has already recorded 4 fifties in the season, has been doing the bulk of scoring. Ever since their inception, SRH have a reputation of being a side that lacks depth in the batting, but this time around, having addressed the problem at the auctions, Laxman believes they have the resources to do the job. Do Warner and Co. have quality goods to handle high-pressure situations? Time will tell.

History also tells that SRH have always been a good bowling side over the years and it is no different in 2016 as well. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s ability to swing the ball and nail the yorkers in the death overs has come in handy for the side. Young Bangladeshi sensation Mustafizur Rahman has proved his mettle and with his bag full of tricks, has been tough to handle for batsmen. Barinder Sran provides good support to Bhuvneshwar and Mustafizur, while Moises Henriques has fitted perfectly into the seam-bowling all-rounder’s role. The fact that the pitch here has offered even bounce explains that the spinners haven’t much of a role. Overall, as captain Warner himself said after the last game, the bowlers have been doing an excellent job.

The Pune-based team might not have an outright power-hitter at the top of the order – a la Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum or David Warner – but the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis and Steven Smith have what it takes to get a side off to a flier. ‘Don’t have to hit the ball hard to score boundaries’ – all three prove this theory right. Notching up back-to-back fifties, Rahane continues to be a good opening batsman in the IPL and has registered three sixty-plus scores in the five games so far. Faf du Plessis might have had a couple of single digit-scores, but he has been hitting ball the very well. The injury to Kevin Pietersen – termed as a blessing in disguise by captain Dhoni – allowed Smith to bat at number three against Kolkata Knight Riders. The Australian star straightaway showed his love for that position and looked set for a big innings – until being run-out in an unfortunate way. Overall, as a batting unit, RPS can’t ask for a better batting strip than the one in Uppal to get their top three firing all guns blazing.

With Dhoni and Co. chopping and changing their combination, there is lack of consistency in the middle-order, which has hurt RPS so far. Captain Dhoni has done decently well in the opportunities that he has got, but he has not faced many balls. Is there a case for Dhoni to promote himself up the order? We’ll wait and watch. Their biggest worry though would be the poor form of Ravichandran Ashwin. With the reputation of being a street-smart operator and Dhoni’s go-to man in pressure situations, the offie has not been able to land in the right spots. In fact, R Ashwin has only managed to take one wicket in 5 games. No wonder coach Stephen Fleming termed Ashwin’s performance as “disappointing,” after their KKR game, especially considering that there was something on offer for the spinners. The other Ashwin – leg-spinner Murugan – has outbowled India’s premier off-spinner and is also the leading wicket-taker for RPS thus far.

Dhoni has always sought a quality all-rounder in his side. Coming at the expense of Pietersen, Albie Morkel played a breezy cameo and also managed to pick up a couple of wickets, but was on the expensive side. Although Thisara Perera has managed to take a few wickets, his economy rate is on the higher side, which would worry Dhoni. Having played for SRH during their first season in 2013, Perera could give some useful inputs to the RPS team management. It is unlike Dhoni to make regular changes to the playing XI and RPS would hope that they finally find the right combination.

Teams:

Rising Pune Supergiants (From): Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis, Steven Smith, Thisara Perera, MS Dhoni(w/c), Albie Morkel, Saurabh Tiwary, Rajat Bhatia, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ankit Sharma, Murugan Ashwin, Irfan Pathan, Ashok Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Handscomb, RP Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Adam Zampa, Scott Boland, Ishwar Pandey, Deepak Chahar, Baba Aparajith, Ankush Bains

Sunrisers Hyderabad (From): Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner(c), Moises Henriques, Aditya Tare, Eoin Morgan, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha(w), Bipul Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Barinder Sran, Mustafizur Rahman, Ashish Reddy, Vijay Shankar, Ricky Bhui, Tirumalsetti Suman, Ashish Nehra, Trent Boult, Kane Williamson, Ben Cutting, Siddarth Kaul, Abhimanyu Mithun, Karn Sharma, Yuvraj Singh