IPL 2025: Why are Kagiso Rabada and Harshal Patel not playing in SRH vs GT Match 19?

Harshal-Patel. (Photo Source: IPL)

Pacers Kagiso Rabada and Harshal Patel won’t be available for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Gujarat Titans’ (GT) clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday, April 6 in IPL 2025.

Harshal’s absence comes as a major blow for the Orange Army, who are coming into this clash on the back of three consecutive defeats. They are looking for a win on Sunday to get up from the last position on the points table. Meanwhile, a big win for Gujarat can take them to the top of the points table. The 2022 champions have two wins and one defeat from three matches this season.

As for Gujarat Titans’ pacer Rabada, he has flown back home due to personal reasons and will miss tonight’s clash.

Toss update

Shubman Gill won the toss for Gujarat Titans and invited the home team to bat first. Gill reckoned that the wicket is on the slower side, mentioning the black soil used. He said that it would be important for his team to adapt to the conditions as soon as possible. Pat Cummins, on the other hand, wasn’t too concerned about being asked to bat first. The Australian pacer said that his team will look to focus on its strength.

Kagiso Rabada and Harshal Patel miss out

The Sunrisers will be without the services of Harshal, as Cummins revealed that he was out of the side for this important clash due to illness. The right-arm speedster has been replaced by the experienced Jaydev Unadkat. Meanwhile, Gujarat have also added the experienced Washington Sundar in place of Arshad Khan to bolster their spin-bowling resources.

Meanwhile, Gujarat Titans had announced Rabada’s temporary exit from the team on April 3. “Kagiso Rabada has returned to South Africa to deal with an important personal matter,” a franchise statement read. A return date for the pacer is not confirmed yet.

What did the captains say?

Shubman Gill, GT captain

We are going to bowl first. Looks like a slowish wicket, different from the previous two games as it’s a black soil surface. Generally it’s a good wicket. We have been playing well, need to adapt to the conditions as soon as possible. I think we had good memories in the past, we are continuing to have good fun. Washington comes in for Arshad Khan.

Pat Cummins, SRH captain

Happy to bat first. We want to be aggressive. It’s a ground we like batting at, we scored 280 at this venue not so long ago. We need to play our best. Need to focus on our strengths. Harshal Patel misses as he is ill, Jaydev Unadkat comes in.

Playing 11s

Gujarat Titans

Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Jos Buttler (WK), Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Washington Sundar, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma.

Impact Players:

Sherfane Rutherford, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Arshad Khan.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kamindu Mendis, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Aniket Verma, Pat Cummins (C), Zeeshan Ansari, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Shami.

Impact Players:

Abhinav Manohar, Sachin Baby, Simarjeet Singh, Rahul Chahar, Wiaan Mulder.

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