Kolkata: Comeback man David Warner would 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 here Sunday.
Under Warner’s captaincy Sunrisers won their maiden IPL title in 2016 and in 2017 he was the leading rungetter for his team. But the Australian opener missed the last IPL because of last year’s infamous ball tampering episode in Capetown, and is set make his IPL comeback along side Steve Smith. Warner will be the most scrutinised player for Sunrisers this season after he was banned for a year over his role in the ball-tampering scandal. While Warner and Smith were banned for a year, young Cameron Bancroft was left out for nine months for his role.
And come this year, both Warner and Smith would be hoping to make an impact for their respective IPL sides. Even as his international ban will end on March 28, the left-handed opener is eligible to play in the franchise league and would be hoping to get into his zone to stake a claim in Australia’s World Cup squad. Warner went under the knife for an elbow injury in January during the Bangladesh Premier League but made a successful comeback for his Sydney club Randy Petes with a 77-ball century in a one-day game earlier this month.
After a disappointing last season, three-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will be looking to start afresh when they take on Delhi Capitals in their opening game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season 12 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday.
A lot was expected from Mumbai in 2018, but the Rohit Sharma-led side failed to qualify for the play-offs. However, playing at home in their first game of this season, Mumbai will aim to kick-off their journey on a positive note.With the Wankhede wicket known to be batsmen friendly, the contest promises to be full of runs as both teams boast of some big-hitters.While Mumbai have the likes of Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Kieron Pollard, Ishan Kishan and Yuvraj Singh to smash the ball around, Delhi have quality batsmen in Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan. Not to forget the prowess of Chris Morris at the back end of the innings.
Delhi, who have not reached the final of the league even once, have a young skipper in Iyer, who will lead the side from the start of the league after taking over from Gautam Gambhir midway into the last season. The youngster, however, will look to leave the disheartening memories behind as the team has been given a complete new look. (Agencies)
