Delhi Capitals will be playing on home turf again on Saturday in the Indian Premier League but there may be no advantage in doing that.
The slow pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla was exploited better by Chennai Super Kings in Delhi’s last game and given the quality of spinners Kolkata Knight Riders have at their disposal, the home side might find itself in a similar quandary.
KKR also have a world-class spin bowling attack led by India’s premier bowler Kuldeep Yadav. The wily Sunil Narine, along with Piyush Chawla, make them a force to be reckoned with on most Indian pitches.
All that may not matter much if Rishabh Pant gets going for the Delhi Daredevils but their management must seriously consider batting him a little higher up the order. He’s had a good start to the season with knocks of 78 and 25 in the two games so far and it would be a pity to have him sit in the dugout for the major part of the innings.
So far, we have seen Shikhar Dhawan play the anchor role for DC but team advisor Sourav Ganguly has asked the India opener to stick to the basics and not experiment too much.
“It wasn’t a struggle in the last few games. He just played differently and will play differently against Kolkata. I had a chat with him after the nets and just asked him to take it like a normal T20 game and play attacking cricket,” Ganguly told IANS.
In a certain sense, though, the onus will also be on the Delhi spinners – Axar Patel, Rahul Tewatiya and Amit Mishra – to deliver a top performance with the KKR batsmen in good form.
Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Robin Uthappa and Shubhman Gill are all among runs. Russell, with his incredible power-hitting ability, has shown just how dangerous a batsman he can be.
KKR owe both their wins to the burly West Indian, who has smacked the bowlers around. Dismissing him early will be the key and that is the challenge for Patel and Mishra.
Rana has been impressive as an opener and in the middle order too in the first two games. The performance of young Gill will be watched keenly since he is tipped to be a future India star.
Apart from Delhi’s spinners, young South African pacer Kagiso Rabada will also have to take the load of stopping runs in the beginning.
It will be interesting to see what kind of track Delhi Capitals opts for in the remainder of the home matches with the BCCI curator said to have been withdrawn.
Head to Head in IPL
Overall: Matches – 21, Delhi Capitals – 8, Kolkata Knight Riders - 13.
Data check
KKR’s best spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine, have surprisingly gone wicketless in both matches this season.
Dinesh Karthik, thanks to his previous association with the Delhi franchise, has scored more IPL runs at the Feroz Shah Kotla than at any other venue. His IPL record at the Kotla reads: 23 innings, 586 runs, 5 fifties.
The Teams:
Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Kasigo Rabada, Axar Patel, Chris Morris, Colin Munro, Avesh Khan, Bandaru Ayyappa, Harshal Patel, Nathu Singh, Sandeep Lamichhane, Trent Boult, Hanuma Vihari, Jalaj Saxena, Keemo Paul, Rahul Tewatia, Ankush Bains, Sherfane Rutherford, Colin Ingram and Manjot Karla.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (capt), Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Rana, Nikhil Naik, Joe Denly, Shrikant Mundhe, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson, Harry Gurney, K C Cariappa and Yarra Prithviraj.
(With inputs from PTI and iplt20.com)
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!