Yuvraj Singh could miss this must-win game in Kanpur on Saturday, as the Sunrisers Hyderabad look to seal their place in the IPL 2017 playoffs with a win over the Gujarat Lions.
With the Kings XI Punjab going on a tearing run of wins, SRH need to win this match to make absolutely sure of finishing in the final four in the IPL 2017 points table.
Helping them do that will not be Ashish Nehra, who has been ruled out with a hamstring injury.
There is also an injury cloud hovering over Yuvraj, who is a major doubt for this game.
While SRH have capable backups for Nehra in Mohammed Siraj and Siddarth Kaul, Yuvraj's loss, if there is to be one, will be a lot more difficult to make up.
Deepak Hooda was dropped in the last game, with Vijay Shankar coming in, and if Yuvraj fails to get fit in time for this match against GL, it looks like Hooda will get another opportunity.
Finding the right balance, though, will be key.
At times this season, SRH have looked a little too heavy on the bowling or batting, with that balance not quite there.
They did better in the last game, when they brought in Mohammed Nabi – either Nabi or Ben Cutting should have played a lot more games than they have done – with Kane Williamson, surprisingly, dropped from the playing XI.
Faith in Moises Henriques seems to be pretty high at the moment, and while, from a batting perspective it is understandable, from a bowling/all-rounder's point of view, his selection has been debatable.
The question for SRH to ask is: If Henriques cannot be trusted with the ball, is he the better option as a batsman than Williamson?
Considering dropping Williamson worked and Henriques scored a few runs – he did conceded 15 in his only over, though – SRH might stick with the same plan again.
The Kanpur wicket in the last game was a really good one for batting, with the Delhi Daredevils chasing down a score of 195. So, that means the Sunrisers Hyderabad would be better bolstering their bowling resources.
Bowling has been a problem for the Gujarat Lions, who haven't been able to defend a single score in IPL 2017.
It looked like they might have turned a bowling corner midway through the season, but injuries, particularly to Andrew Tye, have hit them hard.
GL might not be in contention for a spot in the playoffs, but they will want to sign off on a high, and having played with just three overseas players for the last couple of matches, expect them to go with the same again.
Confirmed playing XI:
Gujarat Lions: Ishan Kishan, Dwayne Smith, Suresh Raina (C), Dinesh Karthik, Aaron Finch, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Pradeep Sangwan, Praveen Kumar, Ankit Soni, Munaf Patel.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner (C), Moises Henriques, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Mohammed Siraj.
