Why is Mohammad Nabi not playing today’s IPL 2020 match vs RCB?

Mohammad Nabi not playing: Sunrisers Hyderabad have left out an experienced all-rounder for their IPL 2020 season opener.

During the third match of the ongoing 13th season of the Indian Premier League between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Dubai, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner won the toss and chose to field much like the previous two matches this season.

“We will bowl. There is a bit of dew around. It was an interesting game last night. We know it’s going to get a bit tired towards the end. We have the balance in the side,” Warner said during the toss.

Warner, who is leading Hyderabad after a two-year hiatus, has included four overseas players in himself, wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow, all-rounder Mitchell Marsh and spinner Rashid Khan. Other than Marsh, batsman Priyam Garg and paver T Natarajan will also be making his debut for SRH tonight.

Why is Mohammad Nabi not playing today’s match vs RCB?

The biggest omission for Sunrisers lies in the form of veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi. It is worth mentioning that the 35-year old player had picked eight wickets in as many matches for SRH at an average and economy rate of 24.25 and 6.65 last season.

Despite form being on his side, Nabi would be disappointed to miss the starting XI tonight. While Warner wasn’t asked about Nabi’s omission during the toss, one believes the move has been primarily done to include Marsh who is coming on the back of an impressive tour of England.

On the other hand, Royal Challengers captain Virat Kohli has included the likes of Aaron Finch, AB de Villiers, Josh Philippe and Dale Steyn as his four overseas players. Apart from Finch and Philippe, batsman Devdutt Padikkal will also be playing his first match for RCB.

“We have made a few changes, to the setup and the team as well. We feel relaxed and balanced. One idea was to create more leaders in the time. The guys have worked really hard during the lockdown period in whatever way they could.

“They have taken a lot of responsibility in these three weeks as well. Lot of batting happened in the last three weeks,” Kohli said during the toss.