Sunrisers on a strong footing as they take on Rajasthan Royals in their first match of IPL 2025 at home ground

Sunrisers would be looking forward to a winning start at home to get the early momentum in search of their second IPL trophy

HYDERABAD: It’s time for all those boardroom strategies to take centre-stage as former champions Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals clash in the IPL league match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Sunday.

For the record, in head-to-head clashes, both teams have won five each in the 10 matches they played.

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It will be an understatement to suggest that Sunrisers should be looking for a winning start at home to get the early momentum in search of their second IPL trophy.

With the pitch, prepared by the well-known curator YL Chandrasekhar and his dedicated team, expected to be a typical, batter-friendly as it has been over the years, the focus will be on the big guns in the batting line-up of both teams for sure.

For a line-up which presented a scary look with those stunning onslaughts with the willow, with the likes of openers Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Sunrisers has the additional firepower this season with the dangerous and experienced campaigner Ishan Kishan most likely to bat at No. 3.

If the Sunrisers’ intra-matches were a hint, the scenario doesn’t look rosy for the bowlers lined up against this team, as the batters should mean business straight away.

Led by Australian captain and one of the great fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Sunrisers bowling too has plenty of balance with the likes of Mohd Shami, Harshal Patel, left-armer Jaydev Unadkat, Wiaan Mulder in pace and spin in the hands of leg-spinners Adam Zampa and Rahul Chahar.

On the other hand, Rajasthan is no pushover with the free-stroking Riyan Parag being the stand-by captain for the early games. The batting looks solid with Samson who is available only as a batter in the first three games, Yashasvi Jaiswal likely at the top and they will be expecting to get the right kind of support from those who follow like Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Shubham Dubey.

In bowling, England pace ace Jofra Archer holds the key for Rajasthan in getting those early breakthroughs for the others, especially the Sri Lankan spin twin of Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana to take charge in the middle overs.

By all means, the Sunrisers are the favourites unless Rajasthan pulls off something really special.