Sunrisers Hyderabad players during training session. (PTI photo) HYDERABAD: The city is bracing for a severe heat wave. Mercury has already crossed the 40 mark and is rising. However, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will lose all that when he takes on Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are yet to find their bearings in this edition of the IPL.The red-hot Rajasthan Royals are a well-prepared team going into the match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Monday and owe much of their success to Sooryavanshi. He has lived up to the reputation going into this edition and Sooryavanshi does it in style, picking apart bowlers and attacks with the nonchalance of a 15-year-old.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!With his marauding ways at the top in partnership with Yasashvi Jaiswal, Rajasthan has shown that he is equally good at setting or chasing totals. Throw in Dhruva Jurel’s calm influence in the middle and it’s clear why Rajasthan’s top three dominate the orange cap order. That Sooryavanshi is attacking at 266.66 is why Rajasthan are on a roll like a burning train.Abhishek Sharma is also batting at 218.64 but inconsistently and this has had an effect on Sunrisers who must have realized that last year’s template of 200 plus total is no longer a safe bet. From being the envy of teams to break the 200 mark for fun last season – SRH amassed 286/6, the second-highest IPL total, in their last encounter with Rajasthan at this venue – Sunrisers now see the return in the same coin. One year is a long time in sports and if anything the IPL is constantly evolving and Sunrisers have scored 200-plus three times this year.They successfully defended it against Kolkata Knight Riders to win by 65 runs – their only win in four matches so far – and watched Royal Challengers Bengaluru and, more recently, Punjab Kings trim their totals. These have all been away matches for SRH, deployed in all four instances, including their only match at home against Lucknow Super Giants when they were undone by Mohammed Shami’s craft.Ishan Kishan was the hero with his 47-ball 106 in this high-scoring match between the two teams last season — SRH won by 44 runs. If only the skipper can replicate this innings, it will give the Suns’ attack, which has looked unsettled in the absence of Pat Cummins, something to watch.4 – Sunrisers Hyderabad have won their last four IPL matches against Rajasthan Royals – by four wickets in Jaipur on May 7, 2023; by one run at Hyderabad on May 2, 2024; by 36 runs in Chennai on 24 May 2024 and by 44 runs in Hyderabad on 23 March 2025. RR’s last win over SRH was by 72 runs in Hyderabad on 2 April 2023.
