Sanju Samson has been Rajasthan Royals' batting mainstay. AFPJaipur: Rajasthan Royals' desire to move up the pecking order got a boost following an incredible win a week ago, and the mid-table team would look to keep the momentum going in their Indian Premier League (IPL) game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Sunday.
Royals are aware of the challenges facing them, as SRH got the better of Kings XI Punjab to grab the second position in the standings.
While SRH have won five out of their seven games so far, Royals are placed fifth with three victories and as many losses.
Royals were on their way to back-to-back defeats before a superb cameo by all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham (33 not out off 11 balls) helped them stun Mumbai Indians by three wickets last Sunday.
The hosts are looking forward to Ajinkya Rahane to lead from the front, and the Indian Test vice-captain will be eager to live up to the expectations.
With his explosive hitting, the immensely talented Sanju Samson is turning out to be Royals' batting mainstay, and another big one could be in the offing.
Sanju is high on confidence having played a few significant knocks so far this season.
The English duo of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler add muscle to Royals' batting.
Royals' bowling department is shouldered by the medium-pace trio of Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat and Ben Laughlin in addition to Gowtham, who bowls off-breaks.
It may be an way game for them but SRH will still fancy their chances.
Despite losing their skipper David Warner as a result of the one-year ban imposed on the Australian run-machine due to ball tampering, SRH showed tremendous fighting abilities and the very impressive win ratio is proof of that.
While revenge may on Royals' mind having lost the first leg game by nine wickets, the home team will need to play out of their skin to come out winners.
SRH batting lynchpin Shikhar Dhawan will look to make merry, having failed against KXIP.
A certain Kane Williamson is always an asset to any team while Manish Pandey's confidence has surely gone up after what proved to be a critical half-century against KXIP.
The likes of Deepak Hooda and Yusuf Pathan add depth to their batting.
The world's top-ranked T20 bowler, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has led SRH's spin attack with some success.
Khan was outstanding against Kings XI Punjab, returning figures of three for 19 in four overs. The likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Siddaharth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma complete SRH's attack. It reamins to be seen whether Bhuvneshwar Kumar has regained full fitness.
The teams (from): Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (capt), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shikhar Dhawan, Shakib Al Hasan, Manish Pandey, Carlos Brathwaite, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha, Rashid Khan, Ricky Bhui, Deepak Hooda, Siddarth Kaul, T Natarajan, Mohammad Nabi, Basil Thampi, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Sachin Baby, Chris Jordan, Tanmay Agarwal, Shreevats Goswami, Bipul Sharma, Mehdi Hasan, Alex Hale.
Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Ankit Sharma, Anureet Singh, Jofra Archer, Stuart Binny, Aryaman Birla, Jos Buttler, Dushmantha Chameera, Prashant Chopra, Shreyas Gopal, Krishnappa Gowtham, Heinrich Klaasen, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ben Laughlin, Mahipal Lomror, Sudhesan Midhun, Sanju Samson, Jatin Saxena, D'Arcy Short, Ish Sodhi, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Jaydev Unadkat.
