After missing out last year's edition due to infamous ball-tampering scandal against South Africa, Australian explosive opening batsman and 2016 IPL winning skipper David Warner will look to make an immediate effect for Sunrisers Hyderabad on his first game of the 2019 edition against two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.
The all-time leading runscorer for Sunrisers and two time Orange cap holder, Warner is back into the Sunrisers squad and would be keen to get his name back into the leader board after his teammate Kane Williamson keep the tradition alive of preserving the Orange cap by compiling maximum runs in the last edition of the tournament.
And now with an extra motivation of getting his form back as well as securing World Cup berth for defending champions Australia, the destructive opener will be out with all guns blazing. And to his support at the top, Sunrisers have roped in for Kiwi opener Martin Guptill, English wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow, and Wriddhiman Saha as new addition who will join hands with Manish Pandey to add power in the batting line up.
While Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Deepak Hooda, Mohammad Nabi, and welcome exchange Vijay Shankar will discharge the all-round responsibilities.
However like yesteryears, SRH main strength lies in their bowling unit where two times Purple cap holder Bhuvneshwar Kumar will once again be the key man for the side to get early breakthroughs and he will get able support from Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma and Khaleel Ahmed as far as pace is concerned while number one T20 bowler Rashid Khan will be the one responsible for restricting opposition batsman in the middle overs by breaking partnerships and getting wickets.
On the other hand, the hosts Kolkata Knight Riders will look to go a step forward this time and win record-equaling third IPL trophy after finishing third in the last edition.
For the cricket-mad city of Kolkata, skipper Dinesh Karthik will look to make his presence felt with some impactful performance that will not only help his side to be in a strong position but also on personal front will ignite his chances of making into the India's World Cup squad for the cricket's showpiece event starting from May 30, where India will look to repeat 1983 and 2011 heroics.
This time around, Kolkata's main strength lies in the West Indian triplet of Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and new recruit Carlos Brathwaite. For the Bollywood actor, Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise a lot will depend on the performance of these three Caribbean all-rounders that possess the capability to turn things around at any point of time.
Apart this talented triplet, Shubman Gill, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana and Aussie powerhouse Chris Lynn will lead the batting unit while Indian front line spinner Kuldeep Yadav will be the main weapon in Dinesh Karthik's bowling armory for the opposition batsmen.