Ahead of the 2021 edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), former India cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has named his ideal playing XI for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
WATCH – Aakash Chopra names his ideal playing XI for Delhi Capitals, ignores Steve Smith
For the opening combination, SRH have quite a few options with the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy and Wriddhiman Saha in their ranks.
While David Warner and Bairstow have proven to be a tried-and-tested pair, stitching some record-breaking partnerships, Saha had also done a brilliant job last season in UAE.
With Mitchell Marsh pulling out of the tournament, Sunrisers have signed Roy, who is ranked amongst the most dangerous opening batsmen in world cricket.
Sharing his two cents on the same, Chopra said SRH should go ahead with Saha as Warner's opening partner.
"It is a difficult task to pick their ideal XI. It is not the case always but this time it is difficult. Who will open with Warner? I will say to make Saha open because he batted brilliantly last year as well and he will have the fire burning in the belly that he needs to do something. And he is selfless, he is absolutely a team player," quoted Chopra in a video posted on his Youtube channel.
"Kane Williamson at No.3, Manish Pandey at No.4, you have Kedar Jadhav at No.5. At six, you have got multiple choices. You can play either of Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma or Abdul Samad. You can get one or two overs apart from the batting. They have Virat Singh as well, they have got plenty of options," he added.
"At seven and eight, I will have Rashid and Nabi because you are playing your first few encounters in Chennai and then Delhi. So spin will be of use in both these places. So there might not be a place for Jason Holder. Rashid and Nabi are four-over banks and can hit the long ball," he further stated.
"Then you need to play three fast bowlers. So there you play Bhuvi, Natarajan and Sandeep Sharma. Sandeep Sharma will bowl in the powerplay overs, Natarajan will bowl in the death overs, Bhuvi will bowl in both these phases of the game. I mean this looks like a good side to me," Aakash Chopra concluded.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will open their IPL 2021 campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 11 in Chennai.
