Another edition of the Indian Premier League has begun. But there is no change in the fate of Delhi Daredevils, as they sit at the bottom of the table with an uphill amount of task in their hands.
VIVO IPL 2018: Having being named captain, Shreyas Iyer will try to change DD’s fortune
Daredevils have lost 5 of their 6 games, the most recent being the loss against Kings XI Punjab where they could not achieve the target of 144 and lost by 4 runs.
After the defeat, skipper Gautam Gambhir stepped down from the mantle, which was later passed to a promising young cricketer in Shreyas Iyer.
This could however be a blessing in disguise for Delhi as a fearless, youthful and exuberant leader may just be what Delhi are looking.
But even before the first game as a captain, Iyer has his hands full as he is being looked at as Delhi’s saviour. With that many questions have also risen. Can he continue his good form with the burden of captaincy? Will he drop woefully out-of-form Gambhir from the squad?
On the other hand, Delhi’s opposition, Kolkata Knight Riders will be delighted to face a side who is currently going through a lot of turmoil.
Kolkata will fancy themselves for a win considering Delhi’s recent run of form with three consecutive losses. If they manage to win, it will cement their position in the top four.
KKR will look to their spinners, as the likes of Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla should do well on a pitch that held up a little.
Delhi will also depend on their bowlers as the inclusion of Avesh Khan and Liam Plunkett worked well in the last game, and will hope the pace duo can again repeat their good work.
Venue− Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
DD Probable XI: Prithvi Shaw, Gautam Gambhir, Shreyas Iyer (c), Glenn Maxwell, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rahul Tewatia, Daniel Christian, Amit Mishra/Shabhaz Nadeem, Liam Plunkett, Avesh Khan, Trent Boult.
KKR Probable XI: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Tom Curran, Piyush Chawla, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav