Klaasen gears up for battle against Bumrah as Sunrisers and Mumbai aim for first points
Written by I Dig SportsMatch details
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) vs Mumbai Indians (MI)
Hyderabad, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)
Big picture - Bumrah vs Klaasen
Given Klaasen's importance to Sunrisers, Mumbai could well keep the majority of Bumrah's overs for when he's in the middle. They will certainly minimise bowling spin to Klaasen - since the start of 2023 he averages 148.5 and has a strike rate of 193 against spin in T20 cricket. But Klaasen's no mug against pace either. He has a career strike rate of 148.45 against the quicks, and dispatched Mitchell Starc for three sixes in an over on Saturday.
The match is especially significant for the Sunrisers, who lost seven out of eight home games last season, and would love a winning start in Hyderabad this year.
In the spotlight - Hardik Pandya and Aiden Markram
Team news and impact player strategy
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga is yet to join the Sunrisers squad and is expected to be unavailable for at least another week as he consults doctors overseas about chronic pain in his left heel. The question for Sunrisers is whether to persist with Marco Jansen, who was expensive against KKR, as their overseas bowling option for a while longer.
In terms of Impact Player strategy, SRH swapped out fast bowler T Natarajan after bowling at Eden Gardens and brought in opener Abhishek Sharma for the chase.
Probable XII: 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Marco Jansen/Fazalhaq Farooqi, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Mayank Markande, 12 T Natarajan
Mumbai Indians
Suryakumar Yadav continues to be unavailable for Mumbai Indians as he recovers from ankle surgery at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. He is also unlikely to be fit for Mumbai's first home game on April 1.
Mumbai named only three overseas players in their XI when bowling first against Titans, swapping out fast bowler Luke Wood and bringing in middle-order batter Dewald Brevis for the chase.
Probable XII: 1 Ishan Kishan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Naman Dhir, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Tim David, 8. Shams Mulani, 9 Gerald Coetzee, 10 Piyush Chala, 11 Jasprit Bumrah, 12 Luke Wood
Stats that matter
Quotes
"I feel the team is exactly the same. We still have goals and the team environment is really great. Rohit is still an amazing leader and I still learn from him every day, as well as Hardik. I learn from him. I feel the team environment is really in a good place and we are ready for whatever lies ahead for us as a team"
Dewald Brevis on the change of captaincy at Mumbai Indians
Abhimanyu Bose is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo