SRH vs RR: Kane Williamson Wins Toss, Opts To Field

Pune: SunRisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to bowl first in their opening match of the IPL 2022 against Rajasthan Royals here at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Tuesday. In the final contest of the opening round of IPL 2022 fixtures, the Royals will be taking on Hyderabad in their season opener.

Both the teams had a forgetful 2021 with a bottom-two finish. Sunrisers' new chapter will be beginning under their leader, Kane Williamson. What felt like a shocker to many, the Sunrisers retained the likes of two of their most promising youngsters, Umran Malik and Abdul Samad while letting go of their English power-hitters namely Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow. Rajasthan Royals, on the contrary, will be bringing together a string of fresh faces as Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal's inclusion will be bringing in a boatload of experience that can completely transform their chequered bowling unit, that has always been a major spot of bother for the Royals.

At the time of toss, SRH captain Kane Williamson said: "We are going to have a bowl. I think it will play pretty well, the grass is short and potential dew factor, so we will try and make use of that. Most of the team has been here for a week to ten days and that has been really helpful. Really excited to get the tournament started. Every team is faced with the same challenges and it will be great to be get going. They (coaching staff) have been amazing, so much knowledge there to tap into and they are also excited."

While Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson said: "It is a special day for franchise as seven guys are making their debuts. Our four foreign internationals are Jos Buttler, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Trent Boult and Hetmyer."

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, and Prasidh Krishna.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Kane Williamson(c), Nicholas Pooran(w), Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, and Umran Malik.