David Warner's inputs and influence on the team members makes him an important part of the leadership group at Sunrisers Hyderabad.
KXIP got its campaign back on track with three consecutive wins -- over mighty Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore and the KL Rahul-led side would be hoping to carry the winning momentum forward to break into top four.
Captain Kane Williamson, all-rounder Vijay Shankar and comeback man Wriddhiman Saha will look to score in the key match.
Dhoni's men will be slight favourites as it will be Bairstow's last game
CSK and Sunrisers Hyderabad (since inception) have traditionally been two of the most balanced sides in most IPL editions but both have ensured scratchy starts this year
Defending champions Mumbai Indians will start as firm favourites against bottom-placed SunRisers Hyderabad in the IPL match in Delhi on Tuesday.
A summary of Ranji Trophy matches played on Thursday.
Almost out of reckoning for a place in the play-offs, bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to play party-poopers when they take on an equally struggling Punjab Kings in the battle of laggards in the IPL in Sharjah on Saturday.
The body language and intensity were not up to the mark, said a disappointed India skipper Virat Kohli, counting the many errors his team committed in the massive 227-run loss to a "more professional and consistent" England in the opening Test in Chennai.
Delhi all-rounder Rajat Bhatia is a surprise inclusion in the 30-man shortlist, for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20, to be held in Bangladesh from March 16 to April 6. It includes young Kerala wicketkeeper Sanju Samson, former India Under-19 captain Unmukt Chand, Railways leg-spinner Karan Sharma and Harbhajan Singh.
India skipper Virat Kohli was pushed to the fifth spot by his English counterpart Joe Root, who rose two rungs to third in the latest ICC Test rankings for batsmen, even as Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin moved up in the bowlers' chart.
Rahane dropped anchor to score an unbeaten 144 off 156 balls while the young Ishan Kishan smashed his way to an 87-ball 114 during their opening stand of 210, which took the C team's score to 352 for seven in 50 overs.
Rajasthan Royals celebrated their return to their home ground at the Sawai Mansingh stadium with a 10-run win over Delhi Daredevils in the rain-hit Indian Premier League match in Jaipur on Wednesday.
'The performance was a bit stop-start. We started well with the bat, till about 10 overs and after that we got a bit strangled. We kept losing quick wickets and fell short. Hyderabad bowled very well and we didn't bat well'
Head coach Ravi Shastri lauded the mindset of the team, which he said, is never perturbed by the conditions it encounters whether at home or abroad.
Kaverappa (3/20) and More (3/31) started it all with a perfect bowling display inside the Powerplay overs before Venkatesh (3/51) seized control in the middle overs to wrap up Jharkhand innings for 187 in 47.1 overs.
Opener Shubman Gill, who is part of the Indian squad for the South Africa Tests, perished for a three-ball duck in the second innings.
A win against Mumbai Indians should be enough to send Sunrisers into the final-four.
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.
In other big movements, Punjab Kings have released their last edition's captain Mayank Agarwal, while West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Having suffered back-to-back defeats against Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Capitals will aim to get back to winning ways against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
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.
RR have a lot of issues to sort out, particularly in the absence of key foreign players like Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes.
A new captain in the saddle, Kolkata Knight Riders would look to sort out their batting woes and strive for consistency when they face Sunrisers Hyderabad in an intriguing mid-table Indian Premier League clash, in Abu Dhabi, on Sunday.
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.
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.
Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma is in sublime form and he can pummel any attack into submission on his day.
For Hyderabad, KXIP encounter is the last game where they can avail the services of Warner before he leaves home for Australia's World Cup preparations alongside Steven Smith and Marcus Stoinis.
Royals are more affected than Sunrisers with the absence of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Joffra Archer, who have left for England to join the World Cup camp.
Ambati Rayudu will be aiming to make a statement when a marauding Chennai Super Kings take on a desperate Sunrisers Hyderabad
The press briefing seemed a deliberate decision to let the army convey its angst to Imran directly, observes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RAW, India's external intelligence agency.
Warner would be looking to make the most of the early start and put runs on the board again.
Aditya Tare played a captain's knock while Abhishek Nayar and Shardul Thakur complemented their fine bowling effort with half-centuries to help Mumbai take the all-important first innings lead over Tamil Nadu in the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament in Rajkot. Tare made a fine 83 off 181 deliveries with the help of nine boundaries to hold together Mumbai's first innings. He was ably supported by Nayar (58) and Thakur (52) as Mumbai made 406 in their first innings in reply to Tamil Nadu's 305 before being bowled out at stumps on the third day of the five-day marque encounter.
A look at how the Indian players rated in the Test series against South Africa.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to shrug off the disappointment of two back-to-back defeats and get back to winning ways when they taken on Sunrisers Hyderabad as they aim to seal their place in the play-offs, in the IPL match, in Sharjah, on Saturday.
Gujarat Lions and Delhi Daredevils will look to salvage pride when they clash in the Indian Premier League in Kanpur on Wednesday.
A summary of Ranji Trophy matches played on Tuesday
Indian cricket has celebrated the emergence of a potent fast bowling unit but it is high time that the establishment focuses on producing quality Test spinners, especially off-break bowlers, stated former players. Ravichandran Ashwin (365 wickets in 71 Tests) has been an impact bowler in home conditions but the current team management hasn't exactly put complete faith in Tamil Nadu tweaker's abilities in overseas conditions.
The immensely talented Unmukt Chand again showed his ability to rise to the occasion as his stroke-filled century guided Delhi to the final of the NKP Salve Challenger series with a thumping 112-run win over India 'Red' in the last round robin league match in Indore.
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.