David Warner, Sunrisers Hyderabad, KKR, Kings XI Punjab, IPL 2017
David Warner could bring Mustafizur Rahman back into the SRH playing XIIANS

Mustafizur Rahman missed out in the last match for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, but "The Fizz" will hope for a return to the playing XI for SRH when they face the Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2017 Match 19 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Monday.

SRH, after picking up two convincing wins at home to start the new Indian Premier League season, suffered two losses away from home.

While SRH are capable of putting in a late run to make it to the top four, like they did last season, David Warner and his team will not want to find themselves behind the eight ball so early in IPL 2017.

Also Read

Three wins and two losses sounds a whole lot better than three losses and two wins, and in order to get the former, bringing Mustafizur back into the lineup might not be a bad idea.

SRH's major problem in those two away defeats was the batting, but they won so many games last season by having a potent bowling lineup, which was capable of restricting the opposition.

Mustafizur did not have the greatest of first games in IPL 2017, and he was dropped for Moises Henriques in the defeat to KKR on Saturday.

Considering how iffy the SRH batting lineup is, Henrqiues is unlikely to be dropped, which would mean leaving Ben Cutting out of the playing XI.

Cutting has been quite good for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, but he hasn't played at such a level that he is undroppable, like Rashid Khan is at the moment.

Rashid got a chance in the playing XI for SRH, owing to Mustafizur Rahman having international engagements with Bangladesh, and the leg-spinner took that opportunity with both hands.

That is what SRH need all their players to do.

They also need their more experienced players – the likes of Ashish Nehra, who has been disappointing so far in IPL 2017, and Yuvraj Singh – to step up more often and instil the confidence in both the batting and bowling lineups.

David Miller, Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, SRH, IPL 2017
David Miller desperately needs a big scoreIANS

Much like the Sunrisers Hyderabad, KXIP are also struggling at the moment, with Glenn Maxwell's side suffering two consecutive defeats, both of them away from home.

So, playing a third consecutive away match won't be easy.

After suffering a heavy defeat against the Delhi Daredevils on Saturday, Maxwell seemed to suggest a few changes could be made to the playing XI, with the likes of Martin Guptill, Shaun Marsh and Darren Sammy sitting on the sidelines.

There are question marks over Guptill and Marsh's fitness, but if they are fit enough, they could come in for Amla and Eoin Morgan, or even David Miller, who seems to be the shadow's shadow of the player he was a few seasons back. And surely, Manan Vohra's chances are running out as well.

Maxwell also blamed the bowlers for not executing their plans against the Delhi Daredevils, so there is a slight chance of Matt Henry maybe being given a game. Ishant Sharma was benched for the last match as well and will hope for a return to the playing XI, as will T Natarajan, who has all the T20 bowling tools, but just needs to be given a bit more confidence.

Confirmed playing XI:

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Mohammed Nabi, Naman Ojha, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Barinder Sran, Siddarth Kaul.

 

Kings XI Punjab: Manan Vohra, Hashim Amla, Wriddhiman Saha, Eoin Morgan, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Axar Patel, KC Cariappa, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma, Ishant Sharma.