Sunrisers opt tow bowl against Rajasthan, Stanlake makes his IPL debut

Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and opted to bowl in their opening IPL match against Rajasthan Royals here today.

Sunrisers Hyderabad new captain Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to field first in match 4 of the eleventh edition of IPL against Rajasthan Royals at Hyderabad.

Both Williamson and Rahane have big shoes to fill that of seasoned campaigners David Warner and Steve Smith, who were  banned by Cricket Australia and IPL for 1 year for their involvement in ball tampering.

The Sunrisers have gone for Shakib Al Hasan, Rashid Khan, Billy Stanlake along with captain Williamson as their four overseas players. Australia's Stanlake is making is IPL debut.

Rajasthan on the other hand have gone D’arcy Short, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Ben Laughlin.

“We also wanted to bowl but the toss isn't in anyone's control. So looking forward to set a good total on board and later defend it down. We have got some good preparations back home and his boys are excited about this game,” says Rajasthan captain Rahane.

“Excited to lead the team. We have a fairly new side from previous years. Hope we start well with the ball in hand,” says Williamson.

While both teams have some exciting players on their ranks, all eyes will be on IPL’s most expensive player Ben Stokes (12.5 crores) and Afghanistan’s 19-year-old leggie Rashid Khan.

RR XI: A Rahane, D Short, S Samson, B Stokes, R Tripathi, J Buttler, K Gowtham, S Gopal, D Kulkarni, J Unadkat, B Laughlin

SRH XI: K Williamson, S Dhawan, M Pandey, D Hooda, Y Pathan, S Al Hasan, W Saha, R Khan, B Kumar, B Stanlake, S Kaul