M Henriques IPL 2021: Fabian Allen stats; Why is Jhye Richardson not playing today’s IPL 2021 match vs SRH?

Jhye Richardson not playing: Punjab Kings have excluded both their Australian fast bowlers for their first IPL 2021 match in Chennai.

During the 14th match of the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League between Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai, Punjab Kings captain Lokesh Rahul has won the toss and chose to bat.

“We will bat first. Pretty obvious decision, put the runs on the board and defend it. Everyone have been given responsibilities – we’re a new team this season, will take time for the roles to sink in for everyone. A couple of wins. the belief will be back,” Rahul told Star Sports during the toss.

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner, on the other hand, laid emphasis on “learning from mistakes” after losing their first three matches this season.

“Everyone in this franchise are positive – need to learn from the mistakes, those little things in the game. Conditions over here are very different to what we encountered in Dubai last season. Need to bowl well and get back to winning ways,” Warner told Star Sports during the toss.

Why is Jhye Richardson not playing vs Punjab Kings?

Talking about the changes made to their Playing XI, both teams have made three changes to their Playing XI in a bid to return to winning ways.

In Australia all-rounder Moises Henriques and West Indies all-rounder Fabian Allen, Punjab have handed debuts to two players who have replaced the Australian pair of Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith. Their third change lies in spinner Murugan Ashwin returning into the XI for Jalaj Saxena.

Having made his IPL debut for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2009, Punjab is Henriques’ fifth IPL team. In 50 IPL innings, 34-year old Henriques has scored 969 runs at an average and strike rate of 28.50 and 128.17 respectively. Henriques, who last IPL stint was for Sunrisers (2014-17), is playing the biggest T20 competition after a four-year gap.

Allen, 25, who has played 36 white-ball matches for West Indies, is playing his first match in the Indian Premier League. A hard-hitting right-hand batsman, Allen also bowls left-arm orthodox.

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A primary reason why Punjab have dropped their express fast bowlers in Richardson and Meredith is their economy rate of 10.63 and 10.50 respectively in three matches so far. Moreover, with the surface at the MA Chidambaram Stadium more suitable for spinners and medium-pacers, it makes more sense to play the likes of Henriques and Allen.

Much like Punjab, Hyderabad have also made three changes to their Playing XI as batsmen Kane Williamson and Kedar Jadhav (debut) and fast bowler Siddarth Kaul have been included for batsmen Manish Pandey and Abdul Samad and spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman.