Their bowling attacks struggling to find form, Kings XI Punjab and SunRisers Hyderabad will look towards their power-hitters to do the job when the two erratic teams go head to head in an IPL match, in Dubai, on Thursday.
Cheteshwar Pujara continued his good form in Ranji Trophy as he slammed his second successive century as Saurashtra dominated their Elite Group A match against Manipur.
Chennai and Mumbai have to win eight of their remaining 10 games to entertain hopes of making the play-offs in IPL 2022.
Suryakumar took charge with MI tottering at 79 for 6 and added 72 off 41 balls with Jaydev Unadkat (13 no off 14 balls).
RR have a lot of issues to sort out, particularly in the absence of key foreign players like Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes.
Virender Sehwag credits the cash-rich and glamour-packed Indian Premier League for fast-tracking little known players to the top level of the game.
Rishabh Pant's brute power will be put to test against Rashid Khan's bagful of tricks in an IPL encounter where Delhi Capitals will start as favourites against SunRisers Hyderabad due to their better bowling resources.
With nine defeats from 11 matches, the Sunrisers are languishing at the bottom, while KKR, in fourth place with 10 points from 12 matches, still have hopes of qualifying for the knock-out stage.
Virtually out of the play-off race, bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad will hope to keep their new-found momentum intact when they face table toppers Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, in Sharjah, on Thursday.
Kolkata Knight Riders, who have lost their last four games, need to get back to winning ways and keep their hopes alive of making it to the play-offs.
A confident Delhi are coming off two back-to-back victories against Royal Challengers Bangalore and a strong Kolkata Knight Riders outfit.
Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani grabbed a match haul of 10 wickets as Mumbai defeated Andhra by 10 wickets to secure a successive bonus-point victory in the Ranji Trophy in Mumbai on Monday.
Sunrsiers' middle-order has hardly been tested and when the opportunity came against Mumbai Indians, the likes of Vijay Shankar, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda and Yusuf Pathan fell flat.
However, Mumbai will take heart from the fact that they defeated defending champions Chennai Super Kings, their first loss in four games, in the last match.
Rajasthan's campaign started on a controversial note when Jos Buttler became the first cricketer in the IPL to be 'Mankaded', the practice of running out non-strikers, who back up early, by bowlers on their delivery stride.
Images from Sunday's IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and SunRisers Hyderabad, in Abu Dhabi.
Comeback man David Warner will be the cynosure of all eyes when last year's finalist Sunrisers Hyderabad open their campaign against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the 12th Indian Premier League, in Kolkata, o
Dinesh Karthik scored a fighting fifty (58 off 44) but it went as vain as the Lions kept losing wickets at crucial junctures to make a hash of the chase.
Seamers Shivam Dube (4/10) and Royston Dias (3/35) powered Mumbai's outright win over Bihar by an innings and 51 runs in their Ranji Trophy 2023-24 season opener in Patna on Monday.
Shivam Dube carried his rich recent form into domestic circuit cracking a rapid fifty but Shreyas Gopal's four-wicket haul ensured that Mumbai were bowled out for 251
Rajasthan Royals, struggling at the penultimate spot on the points table after two wins and four straight defeats, need something special against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Sunday's IPL match in Dubai.
A desperate Sunrisers Hyderabad would seek inspiration from skipper David Warner to arrest any further slide when they take on Punjab Kings in an IPL match, in Chennai, on Wednesday.
Getting the combination right would be topmost on Sunrisers Hyderabad's to-do list when they take on a qualitatively superior Mumbai Indians in an IPL encounter in Chennai on Saturday, trying to arrest an early slide after back-to-back defeats.
SunRisers Hyderabad has the biggest purse while Kolkata Knight Riders has the slimmest purse.
Sunrisers Hyderabad unit would look to consolidate its position at the top of the points table
The Royals are aware of the challenges facing them at the Sawai Mansingh Stadum, a few days after Sunrisers Hyderabad got the better of Kings XI Punjab to grab the second position in the standings.
One of the most consistent teams in the Indian Premier League over the last five years, Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to improve upon their middle-order batting in the upcoming 14th edition of the T20 league.
The variety in Sunrisers Hyderabad's bowling attack will pose a few tricky questions for Mumbai Indians
With Yuvraj Singh in prime form and Australian Moises Henriques and Ben Cutting making all-round contributions, Sunrisers are favourites going into the match.
'We are pretty comfortable and to be honest with you, there is nothing we can do about what happened with David Warner. We have moved on from there'
Dharmendrasinh Jadeja took 7/32 as Saurashtra thrashed Rajasthan by 218 runs.
A dominant Indian team is expected to maintain its stranglehold on a miserable Sri Lanka and wrap up the three-match series when the two mismatched teams face off in the second Twenty20 International in Indore on Friday.
Captain Virat Kohli's huge workload will come up for discussion while Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are expected to make a comeback when the selectors announce the India squad for T20 and Test series against New Zealand and Sri Lanka respectively.
Sunrisers Hyderabad face a formidable task without batting mainstay David Warner when they square off against Mumbai Indians in a crucial IPL match in Mumbai, on Thursday.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Monday said it will adopt a wait-and-watch policy on pacer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, whose life ban was lifted by the Kerala high court, even as the cricketer's state association welcomed the reprieve.
'India have a good bunch of fast bowlers.' 'Umesh is doing really well and so are Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant.'
RCB suffered four consecutive defeats to finish the league stage at the fourth spot, SRH registered a hat-trick of wins to edge past Virat Kohli's men in the standings.
While SRH can't afford to slip up even one bit with five games remaining, RR would be hoping to continue the winning momentum and hope that their foreign recruits continue in good nick like they did in the match against CSK.
Time is fast running out for the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings, a team which desperately needs its batting to click when it takes on SunRisers Hyderabad in Dubai on Tuesday in a battle to keep its IPL hopes alive.
Spin legend Anil Kumble said it has been more satisfying to see Virat Kohli and Co. become self-sufficient in dealing with challenges both on and off the field.
