While the first match of the 13th season of IPL (IPL) faced two most successful teams, in the second match on Sunday, 2 such teams, Delhi Capitals (Delhi Capital) and Kings XI Punjab (Kings XI Punjab), face-to-face. Will be in front , Who is yet to name a single IPL title.
The Delhi Daredevils team, which did not do well in the first 11 seats, changed its name to Delhi Capitals in the 12th season and this team was also successful last year. On the other hand, Punjab has always been a team that looks strong on paper before the start of the league but the players are not able to perform well when the time comes.
In 2019, Delhi made it to the playoffs after a 7-year-long gap but lost to Chennai Super Kings (CSK). After performing well last year, Delhi have retained their main team including captain Shreyas Iyer, wicketkeeper Rish Pant and Kagiso Rabada.
The owners of the Delhi team released some underperforming players such as Colin Munro, Colin Ingram and Krist Morris. In return for these people, Delhi strengthened their batting by bringing Alex Carey, Jason Roy in their team. Chris Vex, Mohit Sharma, Lalit Yadav, Tusshar Deshpande have also been strengthened by adding the team. The franchise has also included Shamron Hetmyer and Marcus Stoinis in their squad on odd qualifications.
Apart from these people, Delhi has also featured Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin. Delhi has all-rounders like Akshar Patel, Marcus Stoinis and Christ Shakes. In the fast bowling department, apart from Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan and Harshal Patel.
In 2019, Delhi got success due to the batting of Yoga Dhawan, Pant and Shreyas. These three were among the top 10 disciples scoring the most runs. Among the bowlers, Rabada took 25 wickets in 12 matches. The team management hopes that all this season will also perform as it did last season.
Delhi has strengthened their spin department with Ashwin. Ashwin, along with leg-spinner Amit Mishra, can cause trouble for the rest of the teams on slow and low pitches in the UAE.
On the other hand, Punjab have always had top level players, but if one or two editions are left behind, the team loses its rhythm in all the editions so far. The team reached the semi-finals in the first edition of the league played in 2008 and was runners-up in 2014 and lost to KKR in the final.
Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore are the third team to not win the title yet. This time opener Lokesh Rahul is captaining the team. The team has replaced last season's captainvarine this season. Punjab has shown confidence in Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, James Neesham, Deepak Hooda, Ravi Bishnoi, Christ Juster and Ishaan Porel. Maxwell will definitely strengthen the middle order and Neesham and Cottrell will keep Punjab's pace bowling at bay.
Kings XI also have top order batsman Christ Gayle and he can turn the match alone. Lack of consistency in Gayle's performance could be a problem for Punjab. And if he gets into the rhythm at the beginning of the season, he can overcome any challenge.
Much depends on how the opening pair of Gayle and Rahul play. The veteran Mohammed Shami will lead the fast bowling there. The team will also have Herds Wijolen and Cottrell to accompany them. Bishnoi, Mujib ur Rehman and Murugan Ashwin are with the team in the spin attack.
As far as the support staff is concerned, the team also has Anil Kumble as head coach, Jonty Rhodes as filling coach, Wasim Jaffer as batting coach, Sunil Joshi as spin bowling coach. If Punjab's performance is judged in the last 12 seasons, then its biggest weakness has been not playing as a team.
If the team has to do well in 2020, it will have to do better jointly. Along with the warm and humid atmosphere of the UAE, slow pitches can help the spinners and in such a case, Delhi has an edge over Punjab.
Kings XI Punjab team- Lokesh Rahul (Captain), Karun Nair, Mohammed Shami, Nicholas Pooran, Mujib ur Rehman, Christian Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Herds Wijolen, Darshan Nalakande, Sarfaraz Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brian Ashwin, K. Gautham, Jay Suchith, Glenn Maxwell, Shelter Cottrell, Deepak Hooda, Ishaan Porel, Ravi Bishanoi, James Neesham, Christian Jordan, Tejinder Dhillon, Prabhasimaran Singh.
Delhi Capitals team- Shreyas Iyer (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Alex Carey, Jason Roy, Prithvi Shaw, Rish Pant (wicketkeeper), Shikhar Dhawan, Shimran Hetmacher, Akshar Patel, Chris Woakes, Lalit Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Chemo Paul Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Mohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sandeep Lamichane, Tushar Deshpande.
