Sunrisers Hyderabad are basically a batter-heavy team that will have better chances to win whenever their batting group, especially the fearsome top three, fires.

So the preview to the Punjab Kings-Sunrisers game, in Mullanpur on Saturday, could be summed up as a test of Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Ishan Kishan, the Hyderabad side’s top three. Punjab have a pretty strong bowling attack, and so it will not be easy for the visitors.

Punjab, last year’s finalists, are yet to lose in IPL 2026. Though they don’t have an all-win record, as their last match, against Kolkata Knight Riders, was abandoned because of rain and they had to split points. The Sunrisers, on the other hand, haven’t had a happy ride so far, losing two of their three games so far.

Packed with performers, Punjab look good to dominate this season as well. Skipper Shreyas Iyer is leading from the front and they have unearthed an exciting talent in Cooper Connolly. Like last year, openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh have been giving them fine starts.

On the bowling front, the variety in their attack is noteworthy. With two fine left-arm seamers in Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen, they have an added advantage. Arshdeep, though, hasn’t been in his best form of late. Then there’s the hard-working Vijaykumar Vyshak and
Australian speedster Xavier Bartlett. As icing on the
cake, they have the wily old Yuzvendra Chahal in the
spin department.

It’s a formidable attack that the Sunrisers batters will have to deal with on Saturday.

Besides an explosive top order, the Sunrisers also have quality in the middle order with Heinrich Klaasen, Liam Livingstone and Nitish Kumar Reddy. So they have the firepower to neutralise Punjab. A good start, however, remains crucial. As they found out in their last game, a five-wicket defeat to Lucknow Super Giants, if the top three falter, it will be difficult for the men in the middle to make up and launch an offensive.

The Sunrisers’ bowling lacks the X-factor. So the likes of Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat will need to pull their socks up.