Mustafizur Rahman is ready to play his first match of IPL 2017, but the Sunrisers Hyderabad face a team selection conundrum when they face the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.
SRH have started their IPL title defence in brilliant fashion, easing past the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening match of the tournament, before beating the Gujarat Lions.
With two wins out of two, David Warner and co. will be keen to maintain their unbeaten run in IPL 2017, and to help them do that, Mustafizur is ready and available.
"He is available for selection," SRH head coach Tom Moody revealed on Tuesday. "Who he will replace will not be decided until (Wednesday).
"But more than likely he is fit and available unless something happens overnight."
That, though, is the big questions – who will Mustafizur replace?
Under IPL rules, you can only play four overseas players in the playing XI.
Which means the Sunrisers Hyderabad will have to drop one of their in-form players.
David Warner is the captain and first name on the teamsheet, so he will play.
Moises Henriques is their highest run-scorer so far in IPL 2017, has looked quite good batting at No.3 and can also bowl a few overs.
Ben Cutting has been solid with the ball and showed his finishing prowess in the opening match against RCB.
Rashid Khan was the Purple Cap holder until Tuesday, when Imran Tahir overtook him, and has been quite impressive with his leg-spinners. He was their match-winner with the ball in the second match, against the Gujarat Lions.
So, who will the Sunrisers Hyderabad drop, assuming Mustafizur, who had 17 wickets in IPL 2017 at an economy rate of 6.90, which in the T20 game is plain ridiculous, will be included in the playing XI, as long as he is fit?
If they play Mustafizur for Cutting, the Sunrisers will then have to fit in an Indian all-rounder or batsman. They would also then have to drop an Indian pace bowler – either Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Ashish Nehra – unless, of course, they decide to go with the three pacers and drop Bipul Sharma, something that is more likely to happen.
Whatever they decide, it won't be an easy decision to make.
The Mumbai Indians pulled victory from the jaws of defeat in their first home game, when they somehow got over the line against the Kolkata Knight Riders
Having picked up their first win of IPL 2017, MI, who will again be without the injured Ambati Rayudu, are likely to go with the same playing XI. Which means Lasith Malinga once more trying to smash the base of the stumps with his yorkers, after the Sri Lankan came in last game for Tim Southee.
Confirmed playing XI:
Mumbai Indians: Parthiv Patel, Jos Buttler, Rohit Sharma, Nitish Rana, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Ben Cutting, Vijay Shankar, Naman Ojha, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Ashish Nehra, Mustafizur Rahman.
