"Don't be surprised if they lift the trophy" - Aakash Chopra on SRH ahead of IPL 2024 final vs KKR

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) will face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2024 final in Chennai on Sunday, May 26. While picking KKR as the likely winners, Aakash Chopra has opined that Pat Cummins and company could spring a surprise.

KKR defeated SRH in their two previous clashes this season. The Shreyas Iyer-led side registered a narrow four-run win in Kolkata in their season opener on March 23. They subsequently trounced the IPL 2016 champions by eight wickets in Qualifier 1 in Ahmedabad on May 21.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra noted that SRH would put up a fight and could cause an upset in the final.

"It's going to be a good game. I feel this encounter will be extremely enjoyable. Hyderabad will not go down without a fight. Don't be surprised if they lift the trophy. That is also possible. It is the third final for both teams (fourth for KKR). KKR lifted the trophy at this ground itself in 2012 after beating Chennai," he elaborated (10:45).

The former India opener picked Abhishek Sharma ahead of Travis Head as the first SRH player to watch out for in Sunday's game.

"First player - Abhishek Sharma. I am not going towards Travis Head because there is Mitchell Starc in the opposition - left-arm pacer. Although he managed Trent Boult, I am not going with him. I am going with Abhishek Sharma, who is batting well," Chopra reasoned (8:45).

"He became a little too greedy in the last match and got out because of that. However, he bowled and he might be required to bowl in this match as well, although there will be one thing with KKR, there will be one left-hander always on the pitch," the former KKR player added.

Chopra pointed out that KKR have a plethora of left-handed batters in Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, and Rinku Singh. He added that they will always keep the left-right combination in the middle and not allow left-arm spin to dominate.

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"He is not bothered that much against spin and he plays differently" - Aakash Chopra on SRH's Heinrich Klaasen

Heinrich Klaasen has amassed 463 runs at a strike rate of 176.04 in 14 innings in IPL 2024. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra chose Heinrich Klaasen as the second crucial player for the SunRisers Hyderabad.

"The second player is Heinrich Klaasen. In Qualifier 1 and also the third game of the season, runs came from his bat against this team. He is not bothered that much against spin and he plays differently. He played very well in the last match as well. It was a slow fifty as per his standards but it was a massive fifty if you win the match by such a huge margin," he said (9:30).

While pointing out that SRH have a decent seam-bowling attack, the reputed commentator added that the unconventional Rahul Tripathi has also been contributing handsomely with the bat lately.

"In bowling, Pat Cummins is absolutely gun. There will be focus on him and then Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan. Rahul Tripathi is in good form. It seems like it is extremely high-risk batting but who cares because he scores runs," Chopra observed.

T Natarajan (19), Pat Cummins (17) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (11) are SRH's top three wicket-takers in IPL 2024. Tripathi, who struggled slightly at the start of the season, has aggregated 125 runs in his last three innings.