Comeback man David Warner would be the cynosure of all eyes when last year’s finalists Sunrisers Hyderabad open their campaign against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.
Under Warner’s captaincy, Sunrisers won their first-ever IPL title in 2016, and in 2017, he was the leading run-getter for his side. But the Australian opener missed the previous edition in the aftermath of last year’s infamous ball-tampering episode in Cape Town, and is set make his IPL comeback alongside Steve Smith.
Even as his international ban will end on March 28, the opener is eligible to play in the franchise league and would be hoping to get into his zone to stake a claim in Australia’s World Cup squad.
Warner went under the knife after suffering an elbow injury in January during the Bangladesh Premier League but made a successful comeback for his Sydney club Randy Petes with a 77-ball century in a one-day game earlier this month.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who led them to runners-up finish in the Aussie’s absence last season, will continue to captain Sunrisers, a team that is known for its depth and variation in bowling.
While Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead Sunrisers pace department, Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan will be in charge of the spin attack. Sunrisers have traded in Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem and Abhishek Sharma for Shikhar Dhawan, but the it remains to be seen how they cope with the India opener’s departure.
In the Kolkata camp, skipper Dinesh Karthik will look to make most of the IPL opportunity to get the selectors’ attention. Taking charge of the team after Gautam Gambhir’s exit, Karthik led the two-time champions to a third-place finish following their loss to Hyderabad in the second eliminator last year.
Kolkata have roped in Carlos Brathwaite this season as they look to reinforce their batting firepower with Chris Lynn at the top of the order.
Squads
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (c), Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Nikhil Naik, Joe Denly, Shrikant Mundhe, Nitish Rana, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson, Harry Gurney, KC Cariappa, Yarra Prithviraj.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Willilamson (c), Manish Pandey, Martin Guptill, Ricky Bhui, David Warner, Deepak Hooda, Mohammad Nabi, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Abhishek Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Sreevats Gowsami, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Basil Thampi, Billy Stanlake, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem.