Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium, Pune
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Average score at venue (1st inns): 201
Win percentage while batting first: 100%
Pitch conditions:
- Like the other venues in this tournament, the pitch at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune can be expected to have a cover of fresh green grass, assisting fast bowlers in the initial few matches.
- The pitch here is known to be batting-friendly but can also be supportive towards spin bowlers as the game progresses.
- Fast bowlers have an edge over spin bowlers as far as wicket-share percentage is concerned. The pacers have taken 53.85% of the dismissals while spinners have got 46.15%.
Weather prediction:
The city of Pune is witnessing peak summer at this time of the year and the temperature will be hitting a high of 39°C around 3:00 PM local time on Tuesday, with the mercury dropping down to 33°C around the time of the start of play. The humidity levels will not exceed 20%.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (overall):
Matches played: 15
Hyderabad won: 8
Rajasthan won: 7
No result: -
Top 3 players from Hyderabad: Kane Williamson, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nicholas Pooran
Top 3 players from Rajasthan: Sanju Samson, Rassie van der Dussen, Devdutt Padikkal
Top picks for H2H/WTA conTest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from Hyderabad: Kane Williamson, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nicholas Pooran, Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar
Top 5 players from Rajasthan: Sanju Samson, Rassie van der Dussen, Devdutt Padikkal, Jos Buttler, Prasidh Krishna
Q & A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
The Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune will be hosting a total of 15 matches this year, starting with the contest between Hyderabad and Rajasthan on Tuesday night. Both the teams have gone through a makeover, adding a lot of firepower to their ranks while losing some extra weight, particularly in the case of Rajasthan who have two of India's finest spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal. Rajasthan also have one of the most successful batsmen in T20 Internationals, South Africa's Rassie van der Dussen in their ranks along with adding some format-specialist players to their squad. On the other hand, Hyderabad will be dependent on Kane Williamson to lead the way with the bat since they have let go of two of their finest players, David Warner and Jonny Bairstow ahead of a mega auction. Adding more to the batting strength and carrying enough fast bowling options will be the trick for this contest to be played on Tuesday night in Balewadi area of Pune city.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
On paper, Rajasthan look the stronger side since they have plenty of big names in their ranks which includes such as Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jos Buttler, James Neesham, Devdutt Padikkal, M Prasidh Krishna, Navdeep Saini and Rassie van der Dussen to name a few. On the other hand, Hyderabad have also been able to add some exciting players as Nicolas Pooran, Rahul Tripathi, Romario Shepherd, Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram to their firepower while getting back the likes of exciting and uncapped Indian players in Abhishek Sharma, Priyam Garg, Umran Malik and Abdul Samad. Rajasthan look the stronger team against Hyderabad on paper and should have more players featuring in the fantasy cricket playing XI.
MORE INFORMATION: Sanju Samson will continue to lead Rajasthan in the 15th edition of the Indian T20 Cricket League 2022 tournament while Hyderabad will look for a fresh start after a controversial season last year, in which they finished an embarrassing eighth. Hyderabad will be without the services of Australian fast bowler Sean Abbott who will miss the first three matches for the franchise whereas Rajasthan will be bolstered with the arrival of South Africa’s star T20I batsman Rassie van der Dussen ahead of the first match, for which he is expected to be available for selection.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
LIKELY XIs:
HYDERABAD: Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Kane Williamson (c), Nicholas Pooran (wk), Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Marco Jansen, Umran Malik, T Natarajan.
RAJASTHAN: Devdutt Padikkal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler (wk), Sanju Samson (c), Rassie van der Dussen/Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, James Neesham, R Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna.
FANTASY XI: Devdutt Padikkal (c), Rahul Tripathi, Kane Williamson, Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler (wk), Washington Sundar, James Neesham, Prasidh Krishna, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal.
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Hyderabad, Rajasthan look to make fresh start
Rajasthan won the Indian T20 Cricket League 2022 tournament 14 years ago when the competition began in 2008, whereas for Hyderabad, their maiden title victory in 2016 seems to be a thing of a distant past which came under the franchise legend David Warner, who was controversially tossed out by the team last year.
Warner and Hyderabad team management had a massive fall out during the middle of the Indian T20 Cricket League 2022 competition last year which saw the Australian cricketer, who happens to be the best overseas batsman in the history of the league, also the most successful player for the Hyderabad franchisee on several counts, discarded unceremoniously.
With the commencement of the 15th edition of the worlds biggest T20 Cricket League 2022, Hyderabad will look to make a fresh start under the able leadership of New Zealand’s Kane Williamson along with some on their trusted former players in Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Abhishek Sharma, T Natarajan and Umran Malik.
Hyderabad have been able to bring on board some very exciting players such as West Indies vice-captain Nicolas Pooran and all-rounder Romario Shepherd, former Kolkata batsmen Rahul Tripathi, star India spin bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar, New Zealand's Glenn Phillips, South Africa's Aiden Markram and Marco Johnson, along with promising Indian players such as Shreyas Gopal, Karthik Tyagi, Ravikumar Samarth.
There has been some action in the coaching staff room as well, with the 2019 World Cup winning coach Trevor Bayliss leaving the franchise after last addition while Simon Katich parted ways with Hyderabad for him being unhappy with their auction strategies.
Another Australian, Tom Moody is back as the head coach of the franchisee after serving as their Director of Cricket for sometime, while Hyderabad have been able to add West Indies batting legend Brian Lara as their batting coach, former Hyderabad player and South Africa's bowling great Dale Steyn as bowling coach and India's Hemang Badani as their fielding coach.
Sri Lankan spin bowling legend Muttiah Muralitharan will continue as the spin bowling coach of the Hyderabad team.
Rajasthan Royals have a great mix of players and it remains to be seen if they are able to translate potential and promise into performances — their biggest failure over several seasons.
The 2008 title winners Rajasthan have been known for backing young and untested Indian players, and they have been able to add a lot of promising Indian players in their ranks this year as well.
The inclusion of the talented Karnataka and Bangalore batsman Devdutt Padikkal, who has made his India debut as well, provides a great opportunity for Rajasthan to have an all-India opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and the left-handed Padikkal. This could take pressure off the shoulders of Samson, who is expected to keep wickets as well.
Rajasthan have some very exciting young Indian batsmen in Riyan Parag, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel whereas their bank of overseas batsmen consists of Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, James Neesham and world No 7 South Africa batsman Rassie van der Dussen.
Rajasthan have been able to add more to their bowling strength with the inclusion of star Indian spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal along with the uncapped KC Cariappa, the mystery spinner who made news a few seasons ago when he arrived at the scene.
The fast bowling department has the likes of Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Singh, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav along with overseas players in Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Obed McCoy.
For a team that always has had the promise but failed to convert into on-field performances, the tragic passing away of their former captain Shane Warne earlier this month will serve as a motivating factor.
Warne led Rajasthan to their only title win all the way back in 2008 and Rajasthan will be keeping the Australian spin legend in their minds and heart when they take the field from Tuesday, hoping to pay rich tributes to the world’s most successful leg-spinner with their performances on the field.
