Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad will start their IPL campaign with the third match of IPL 2021 on April 11. Ahead of the fixture, let’s look at one player from each side who will be in focus.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Andre Russell:
Andre Russell has been a mainstay for Kolkata Knight Riders for years. Russel is undoubtedly one of most destructive batmen in this format of game. As KKR’s key all-round weapon for last few years Russell has won multiple matches for the side, often singlehandedly. In 74 IPL matches so far, Russell has scored 1517 runs with a strike rate of 182. However, his IPL 2020 performance was mediocre and much below than the standards he set for himself. He was suffering from injury as well that impacted his effectiveness for the team. In 2019, he scored more than 500 runs with 200-plus strike rate. Since last IPL, Russell has played the Lanka Premier League with limited success with bat and ball. It is important for KKR to have an in-form Russell. Russell would also like to have a good IPL to stake his claim for World T20 later this year.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
David Warner:
David Warner, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain led the team with examples in the past. This time once again, he will look forward to lead the batting for his team. The Australian opener has a record in the league which very few players can match. In all his last six seasons in IPL David Warner has delivered more than 500 runs in the tournament. He has been a key factor for the Hyderabad side and the top-order depends a lot on the skipper. However, over last few years age has started to show the side effects on him and multiple injuries have impacted his performance. Still Warner ended as the highest scorer for his team with 548 runs with a strike rate above 134. For a brief period in IPL 2020 he batted in the middle order but in all likelihood, he will be again seen opening for Sunrisers Hyderabad in this season again.
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