Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils begin their IPL campaign on Sunday under new leadership, hoping to hit the ground running at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.
The early game of the day (14:30 UAE time) will see Ravichandran Ashwin-led Punjab host the Daredevils, who will be captained by Gautam Gambhir. While Ashwin had earlier revealed he was disappointed at not being re-signed by Chennai Super Kings, Gambhir has said he is glad to be back at his home team after leading the Kolkata Knight Riders with distinction.
TALKING POINTS
The Daredevils have lost one of their biggest assets โ South African pacer Kagiso Rabada โ to a back injury right before the start of the tournament. That has upset their calculations as Rabada was a guaranteed starter in every game. However, Delhi still have a potent bowling attack in Mohammed Shami, Amit Mishra, Trent Boult, Chris Morris and teenage leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane.
In the batting department, they have some outstanding overseas talent in Jason Roy and Colin Munro. The question is whether Delhi want to play more foreign bowlers or batsmen.
Punjab, on the other hand, have a problem of resources. Two of their big acquisitions โ Yuvraj Singh and Chris Gayle – are well past their prime and they donโt have any recognised India batsmen apart from KL Rahul. Ashwin is leading the side, which is interesting as very few bowlers have captained IPL teams; Shane Warne being the biggest such name.
The boys are in Mohali for our first game of the VIVO @IPL 2018! ๐ช๐ป#DilDilli #Dhadkega pic.twitter.com/gaFJIDskNf
— Delhi Daredevils (@DelhiDaredevils) April 7, 2018
PLAYERS IN FOCUS
All-rounder Yuvraj Singh has been averaging around 250 runs in the last three seasons. He barely bowled last year. Punjab mentor Virender Sehwag has a lot of faith in Yuvraj and has said even if the southpaw can make the winning difference in a couple of matches, that would be enough for the franchise. Whether Yuvraj can raise his game at the age of 36 after slowly drifting away each season will decide how far Punjab go this season as he is one of the very few big Indian names in the team.
Daredevils pacer Shami has been through a lot in the last month. He was first accused of adultery and assault by his wife Hasin Jahan. After that he was accused by his wife of taking money from bookmakers, a charge that was dismissed by the Indian board. And later he suffered an accident while travelling by road that required multiple stitches on his head. How he puts all of that behind him and focuses on the cricket will be of great interest, not only for the franchise, but the national team management.
LIKELY LINE-UPS
Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, David Miller, Yuvraj Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Mohit Sharma, AJ Tye, Barinder Sran
Delhi Daredevils: Gautam Gambhir (c), Prithvi Shaw, Colin Munro, Shreyas Iyer, Jason Roy, Rishabh Pant, Chris Morris, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Trent Boult, Shahbaz Nadeem
