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We are almost into the final few days of IPL 2024 and Wednesday would be the first time that SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Lucknow Supergiants (LSG) will play against each other this year. And they couldn't have picked up a more enthralling time - both are level on points after 11 games, fighting for the top four.
Both teams are coming off big losses. While LSG have been marred by injury concerns and an unstable batting order, SRH's playing 11 changes after their back-to-back losses in the middle of the season haven't worked too well.
But just to demonstrate the quality these two sides possess, we have picked a combined 11 from their squads. It brings together their best qualities with minimum weaknesses, by including the most in-form players. It's a hypothetical team but we have limited to players who are available for selection. Check it out:
Top order: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, and KL Rahul (WK)
It's hard to break the opening combination of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma this IPL. Thanks to them, SRH's powerplay run rate of 11.04 is only behind Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
While Head has smashed 444 runs at a strike rate of 189.74, Abhishek has 234 runs at a strike rate of 188.70. The two left-handers like to take on the bowlers from the first over itself and when they get going, they are almost impossible to stop.
LSG have made it easier to keep them intact at the top of the order by dropping Quinton de Kock from their 11. Youngster Arshin Kulkarni hasn't been able to grab his opportunities yet while skipper KL Rahul has had his usual strike-rate issues where he has failed to get off the blocks quickly, apart from a couple of games.
Rahul, though would be the perfect number three for this team. The right-hander has scored 431 runs this season at an average of 39.18. Shifting him a position down the order would allow Head and Abhishek to continue as they have and give more steel to the middle order. Rahul's skills of moving the game with him, especially against spin, would work well for the big hitters following him.
Rahul's display of some exceptional wicketkeeping skills this year makes him the best option to take the gloves as well.
Middle order: Nicholas Pooran, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Reddy, and Abdul Samad
This would make one of the most fearsome middle orders in all IPL. Left-handed Nicholas Pooran has scored 315 runs at a strike rate close to 160 while Heinrich Klaasen has collected 339 runs, striking at over 186. The former's ability to take down all kinds of spinners would dovetail with the latter's unmatched pace-hitting skills.
They would be followed by two promising SRH youngsters Nitish Reddy and Abdul Samad. Reddy has been impressive with both bat and ball in IPL 2024, rescuing his team multiple times from a batting collapse. Apart from 239 runs at a strike rate of 152, he also has three wickets, making him a handy pace option.
Samad, meanwhile, has shown the same promise he showed in his debut season which went missing in the last three years. More than his 151 runs at a strike rate of 181.93 which have provided crucial finishing touches for SRH, it's his willingness to take the responsibility to attack that makes him a stand-out batter.
LSG also have some decent options for number five, especially someone like Marcus Stoinis who could be great value to the team. However, there has been a lot of shuffling and no one has scored runs as consistently as the SRH group.
Bowlers: Pat Cummins (C), Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and T Natarajan
SRH captain Pat Cummins was the obvious choice for captain as well as the leader of the bowling attack. Although Rahul has been great with a young team, Cummins is just more qualified and experienced to lead such a star-studded team.
His bowling has been superb too, much better than what most expected when he was signed. He has 13 wickets in 11 games, bowled the most important overs more often than not, and taken the key wickets even on the flattest tracks.
His pace partners at SRH, T Natarajan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, are easy choices too. Natarajan has 15 wickets in nine games at 21.20. He has time and again shown that he's one of the best death bowlers in IPL, thanks to his ability to bowl pin-point yorkers at will and beat the batters with his slingy actions and variations.
Although LSG have some excellent pacers in their ranks, like Mohsin Khan and Yash Dayal, neither have been at their best. Mayank Yadav would have been a sure-shot entrant but he has likely been ruled off the season due to injury.
This gives a slight edge to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has recently shown vintage form with five wickets in the last three games. His new ball skills and the kind of death-over experience he showed against Rajasthan Royals is hard to leave out.
Finally, spin bowling. This has been an issue for both SRH and LSG. SRH's Mayank Markande was doing well but they chose to drop him. LSG's Ravi Bishnoi, thus, takes the spot despite not being at his best.
His economy rate and confidence in big duels have been decent but the leg-spinner has just lacked the usual consistency with his lines and lengths. As soon as he finds that, he'll be back picking a ton of wickets again.
