Dubai is hosting the third match of the 13th season of the Indian Premier League on September 21. The Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad squads surprised a few already. Mohammad Nabi, after an impressive CPL show, failed to make it to the SRH playing XI. Let’s find out the reason why Mohammad Nabi is not playing today against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 3rd match of IPL 2020.
Mohammad Nabi in CPL and IPL
All-rounder Mohammad Nabi had a pretty good run in the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League 2020. In 12 matches he took 12 wickets at an average of 17 and an economy rate of 5.1. Even with the bat he was instrumental and scored 156 runs in 10 innings with the highest being 35*. He was an important member of St Lucia Zouks in their journey to final in CPL. His performance in IPL 2019 for Sunrisers Hyderabad was impressive too where he claimed eight scalps in eight games including one 4-wicket haul. No wonder fans expected to see him regularly in the IPL 2020 as well.
But Sunrisers Hyderabad decided to go without Nabi in their opening game against RCB in IPL 2020. Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI) for the third match include David Warner (C), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Mitchell Marsh, Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan.
Here is why Nabi is not playing today against RCB
The overseas quota and nature of the wicket seem to have played an important role in Nabi’s exclusion today. SRH chose four overseas players- two set openers (Warner and Bairstow), one spinner (Rashid Khan), one seam bowling all-rounder (Mitchell Marsh).
The seam friendly wicket demanded the Hyderabad side to opt for Marsh. Moreover, his recent showcase in the England-Australia series spoke of his mettle too. On the other hand, excluding T20 specialist spinner, Rashid Khan cannot be an option. Looking at the squad, it seems that SRH wants to trust their core and experienced members. This is why Warner and Bairstow were automatic choice as opening pair. Nabi basically did not fit into the combination his side wanted to go for the first match of the season.
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