Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sun Risers Hyderabad (SRH) would vie for honours in the first of the two matches in today’s edition of the on-going IPL, 2018. Few are aware that the CSK and SRH not only have equal points (06) from equal number of outings (three wins out of four matches) but also have won matches against identical opponents and almost in an identical fashion!

All the similarities are to end today as only one team would be laughing around 08:00 p.m. today, when one of the teams would have won the match. Such are the glorious uncertainties of the game of cricket which makes geniuses out of buffoons and vice-versa. One of the most popular proverbs among cricketers is that ‘Cricket is a great-leveller’ today, however, it would make only one team gain points!

Kings XI Punjab has now topped the points tally with its easy victory over Kolkata Knight Riders yesterday, which puts pressure on both CSK and SRH to win Sunday’s 04:00 p.m. game to go to the top on Net Run Rate basis. CSK has a good advantage going into today’s match as it had won four out of the six encounters to have taken place between the two teams as on date.

SRH badly misses banned Australian player David Warner’s presence amid its ranks. It,however, has a potent bowling attack led by Indian seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. It has a very good batting side as well but India opener Shikhar Dhawan’s fitness is a point of concern as he didn’t take the field to train along with the rest of his team-mates. If he doesn’t play on Sunday, England’s Alex Hales might take place at the top.

CSK looks like a very-well settled unit. Shane Watson, Rayudu, Raina, Billings, Bravo and Dhoni present an irresistible combination of specialist batsmen and all-rounders. Watson appears to be back to his best, if his century in CSK’s match against Rajasthan Royals on Friday was any indication. On the other hand, SRH must be hoping that CSK’s top and middle order might have an off day on Sunday.

On a personal level, the duel between Bhuvneshwar Kumar and his India team-mates such as Dhoni and Raina will be something of a challenge to look for. May the team which performs best on that day have the final say!

Players to watch out for:
CSK: Shane Watson, Bravo, Dhoni
SRH: Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Images Courtesy - BCCI, IPLT20