Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to field first at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune. Teams have looked to chase in the tournament so far with dew playing a major role in the second innings.
“I think it will play pretty well, the grass is short and potential dew factor, so we will try and make use of that. Most of the team has been here for a week to ten days and that has been really helpful. Really excited to get the tournament started. Every team is faced with the same challenges and it will be great to be get going,” Williamson said after winning the toss.
“It is a special day for franchise as seven guys are making their debuts. Our four foreign internationals are Jos Buttler, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Trent Boult and Hetmyer. We have played a lot of games here and know what is going to happen. It looks like a very green wicket but I am sure it will help both batsmen and bowlers,” Samson said at the coin toss.
For SRH, West Indies all-rounder Romario Shepherd is making his IPL debut. On the other hand, Samson is set to make his 100th IPL appearance for RR.
Playing XIs
RR XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (wk/c), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna
SRH XI: Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Kane Williamson (c), Nicholas Pooran(wk), Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik
“There will be a bit of pressure but also some confidence that the franchise has trust in me. Myself and Umran Malik are confident because of that (retention) and are looking forward to doing well. This year everyone is saying I am the senior member. The role has changed, lot more responsibility has come and I will try to give my best in whatever situation. It is not that difficult to adapt to conditions, the staff that has come in are some big names and have the experience, getting to learn a lot from them. Brian Lara and Dale Steyn are helping us get better,” Abdul Samad, who was retained for Rs 4 crore said before SRH’s first clash of the tournament.
“Very excited for this season. Any time at the start of the IPL it is always an exciting time. Franchises have new squads together and they will be trying to gel quickly as a team and looking forward to getting our first match underway. My math is quite simple - to get as many (runs) as I can and as quickly as I can. It is no different to anyone else. T20 keeps moving forward, guys are scoring quickly and all round the ground, trying to stay up with the curve,” Royals’ wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler said before the toss.
“It is always nice coming back to the same team, lots of familiar faces in the backroom staff and that helps you get settled quickly. Preparation has been good. Lots of new faces, trying to get to know each other quickly and the great thing is lots of these guys come across each other in different franchises and different tournaments across the world. There are plenty of familiar faces even though we are a new squad,” the English batter added.
