The Cricketer takes a look at the next fixture in the 2022 Indian Premier League season
Sunrisers Hyderabad take on Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.
The game will be played on Tuesday, March 29. The first ball will be bowled at 7.30pm local time (3pm GMT).
The game will be held at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.
The final two teams to get their campaigns underway in this year's competition, both look vastly different from in previous editions. For Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rashid Khan, Jonny Bairstow and David Warner have all moved on, with Kane Williamson at the helm after a lengthy injury lay-off.
Washington Sundar was a major recruit, while the attack will be led by the contrasting skillsets of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan. Fast bowlers Marco Jansen and Romario Shepherd offer different, equally exciting overseas options.
Rajasthan are similarly changed: one-time adversaries Ravichandran Ashwin and Jos Buttler are now teammates, while Yuzvendra Chahal is the second half of a strong, Indian spin duo. Jofra Archer is both injured and no longer with Royals, having been picked up by Mumbai Indians at the mega-auction, while Ben Stokes is sitting out this year's tournament.
As well as Buttler, however, Rajasthan retained Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson, while also snapping up Devdutt Padikkal to join a packed top order. Trent Boult will lead the seam attack.
Jos Buttler was retained by Rajasthan Royals (Indranil Mukherjee/AFP via Getty Images)
How Rajasthan order their batting resources will be fascinating, with Rassie van der Dussen and Shimron Hetmyer also at their disposal. If Sunrisers can take early wickets, though, Royals' lower middle order carries less of a threat, without a natural finisher in their ranks.
For Hyderabad, the opposite is true: without either Bairstow or Warner, this year marks a change of tack. With two local openers in Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek Sharma, they are more imposing in their middle order than in years gone by. Watch out, too, for Umran Malik, the rapid right-armer who featured for India A over the winter.
Matches played: 15
Sunrisers Hyderabad wins: 8
Rajasthan Royals wins: 7
Sunny and warm in Pune, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, Umran Malik, Washington Sundar, Nicholas Pooran, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Priyam Garg, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Kartik Tyagi, Shreyas Gopal, Jagadeesha Suchith, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Romario Shepherd, Sean Abbott, R Samarth, Shashank Singh, Saurabh Dubey, Vishnu Vinod, Glenn Phillips, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy, Anunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, Jimmy Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell
Kane Williamson captains Sunrisers Hyderabad (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Kane Williamson, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Jimmy Neesham, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna
Rajasthan Royals are heavy favourites, going into this clash with odds of 8/11. Sunrisers Hyderabad are available at 5/4.
Rajasthan Royals look a better unit across the board, with an established bowling attack and plenty of talent at the top of the order.
In the UK, Sky Sports have exclusive rights to this year's tournament, with matches available on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket.
Fans in India can watch all of the action on Star Sports.
Elsewhere in the world, viewers in Australia can watch the IPL on Fox Sports while in New Zealand, Sky Sport will provide coverage.
Willow TV and Flow Sports will broadcast the tournament in the United States and the Caribbean, respectively.
Fans in MENA can catch the action on beIN Sports while in South Africa, SuperSport have the rights.
The IPL can also be streamed on Disney+ and Hotstar in certain areas.
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