Sunrisers Hyderabad Predicted XI Against Punjab Kings: Time To Drop Harry Brook?
Sunrisers Hyderabad could think about benching Harry Brook after the England star failed to fire in the first couple of matches for the franchise.
A lackluster start from the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) team sees them placed bottom of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 standings, having lost the first couple of games of the tournament. Up against an in-form Punjab Kings side, SRH might be prompted to make some big changes in order to find a team that can start their winning run. While a number of players have disappointed, England star Harry Brook could see himself being sidelined after a string of unimpressive performances for the franchise.
For a team that finished at the eighth spot in the last two editions, SRH would have hoped for a better start to the season but they ended up suffering two crushing defeats at the hands of Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants respectively.
A poor show with the bat despite some exciting players in the line-up is the prime reason behind their failure. Sunrisers' struggles to build partnerships saw them score 131 and 121 in their two matches so far.
Losing wickets in a heap has proved to be their bane as they failed to get any momentum. If SRH was 30 for 2 in the powerplay in the first game, they managed 43 for one against LSG, only to fritter it away, slipping to 55 for 4 in nine overs.
The return of new skipper Aiden Markram too didn't change their fate as he made a duck. The ability to play spin was behind the rise of Harry Brook but he got out to spinners in both matches.
In the top order, SRH tried wicketkeeper Anmolpreet Singh as an opener instead of Abhishek Sharma in their last match and he looked promising, but Mayank Agarwal and Rahul Tripathi have been inconsistent.
In fact, it took two cameos from Abdul Samad to take SRH to a decent total in the two matches. With big-hitting Heinrich Klaasen waiting in the wings, it would be interesting to see what combination they go for to prop up the batting.
Sunrisers Hyderabad likely playing XI against Punjab Kings in IPL 2023 match: Abhishek Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (C), Harry Brook, Heinrich Klaasen, Glenn Phillips (WK), Washington Sundar, Adil Rashid, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik
With PTI inputs
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Punjab Kings