Rajasthan Royals will make their long awaited return after a two-year suspension when they take on 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in their own den on Monday (14:30).

Both Sunrisers and Royals are feeling the repercussions of the Australia ball-tampering episode after losing the services of David Warner and Steve Smith respectively, both of whom were designated two lead their sides.

In the absence of the two Aussie crowd favourites, Ajinkya Rahane has been appointed as the skipper of the Royals while Blackcaps captain Kane Williamson has taken the reins at Hyderabad.

TALKING POINTS

Warner’s loss cannot be understated for the Sunrisers. The left-hander is the most successful overseas international in the history of the IPL and the outfit will hope that Williamson can fill in those big boots with their batting looking a little thin.

They will however, bank on having one of the best looking bowling attacks on paper with the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Afghan leg-spin prodigy Rashid Khan in their ranks.

On the other hand, Royals have vast riches in their overseas department to cope with the loss of Smith. With the likes of D’Arcy Short, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes at their disposal, the 2008 winners will fancy themselves against any opponent if those four can get firing.

Where they do lack though, is in their domestic ranks where they have no big names apart from Ajinkya Rahane.

PLAYERS IN FOCUS

After making his return recently to international cricket after an indefinite suspension, Stokes will be itching to remind the world once again of his outrageous talents and there’s no better place than the IPL to do that.

One the other hand, Rahul Tripathi impressed one and all in the IPL for Rising Pune Super Giant last year with some eye-catching displays and he could be a wild card for the Royals batting line-up this year at the top.

Another man who could cause damage is Smith’s replacement – Heinrich Klaasen, who gave a great account of himself when India toured South Africa. The wicket-keeper batsman has the weapons to unsettle any spinner and could be a handful on Indian tracks.

LIKELY LINE-UPS

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson (C), Manish Pandey, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Carlos Brathwaite, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Sidharth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma.

Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Jos Buttler, Stuart Binny, K Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat.