Around 5800 days have gone by since Delhi Daredevils played their opening game in the 2008 IPL. During that period, the franchise’s name was changed to Delhi Capitals. Unfortunately for the owners and those involved with the franchise, that hasn’t resulted in change of fortunes. The report card says, the Capitals are yet to win an IPL title.
The 2024 season too hasn’t begun on the right note for them, with the franchise losing their opening two fixtures. In fact, in last year’s tournament, they had lost five on the trot, at the start of their campaign. To make matters worse, both Ishant Sharma and Shai Hope are on the injured list. On the other hand, Anrich Nortje, their pace spearhead, and Jhye Richardson are making their respective comebacks from injuries.
Their best two bowlers – Kuldeep Yadav and Khaleel Ahmed – slot in it at the 11th and 15 positions respectively. None of DC’s batters are currently among the top-10 in the batting charts either. Among the batters, Rishabh Pant, the skipper, who too is on a comeback trail, would be hoping to lead from the front after a couple of indifferent performances.
The contrast couldn’t have been starker on the other side. From Rachin Ravindra to Mustafizur Rahman and Shivam Dube, there have been enough impactful performances for the CSK side. Ruturaj Gaikwad, the new skipper, and Deepak Chahar too have made useful contributions. Incidentally, such has been CSK’s depth in the batting that MS Dhoni hasn’t batted yet in this season’s IPL.
Form back says that CSK will continue their winning momentum at DC’s home away from home in Vizag. But it is a very unpredictable format, and DC would believe they are just one win away from building some confidence and getting their floundering campaign back on track.
Time and Venue Details: 7.30 PM local, Visakhapatnam
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Prithvi Shaw could come into the equation for DC. Abishek Porel and Lalit Yadav are a couple of options when it comes to impact players. CSK would look at Dube as an impact player.
David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Ricky Bhui, 4 Rishabh Pant (c, wk), Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed, Lalit Yadav
Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Daryl Mitchell, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni (wk), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Matheesha Pathirana, Mustafizur Rahma
“We go on the road now for a couple of games against Delhi and Sunrisers Hyderabad and it’s always a challenge playing away from home in different conditions that we’re not used to. So, I think it will be a great challenge for the team.” Michael Hussey, CSK batting coach.
“We’re very confident that we will be able to turn things around. It’s against a good CSK team but we know our best cricket is going to be good enough against anybody.” Ricky Ponting, Delhi Capitals head coach.
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— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) March 31, 2024