Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab are at a serious risk of finishing at the bottom of IPL 2016. There is really not much to choose between the two sides. They are both full of young and inexperienced Indian players, who are yet to prove themselves capable of performing at the highest level.
For sure, Delhi Daredevils are coached by Rahul Dravid, who is the coach of India A and Indian Under-19 and Kings XI Punjab are managed by Sanjay Bangar, who has been involved with the Indian set-up in the past.
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Rahul Dravid made the strategic decision of making Delhi Daredevils a team of youngsters. It still remains to be seen if this decision turns out to be a major mistake in the short run.
The IPL is not a playground for young cricketers to learn their job – it’s a serious business worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Those who perform in the IPL become instant heroes, and those who don’t get consigned to the dustbins of history. Rahul Dravid’s team of youngsters really has to come good.
As for Kings XI Punjab, they have David Miller and Glenn Maxwell who they can depend on. There is the recently retired, but still very fast Mitchell Johnson to lead the bowling attack. The problem with the Kings XI side is that there’s no standout talent among the Indian youngsters at their disposal.
Tonight’s match is going to be an important one as both teams will be searching hard for their first win. It would be pretty much like one of those relegation clashes between a couple of bottom of the table sides in the English Premier League.
Delhi Daredevils are led by an old head – Zaheer Khan, one of the greatest cricketers to play for India, but now comfortably in retirement. Does Zaheer really have the hunger to play competitive cricket again?
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It was clear from his performance against the Kolkata Knight Riders that Zaheer is completely out of touch with cricket and seriously lacking in pace. Making him the captain of the side may well have been a serious mistake as he could well be the Daredevils’ biggest liability. Zaheer knows how important it is for him to perform.
Similarly, for Kings XI Punjab, Axar Patel is the man under pressure. Axar had a couple of decent years in the IPL because of which he even made it to the Indian. But that was when it all turned wrong as Axar’s lack of any real talent was exposed at the international level.
As for the team news, we expect Imran Tahir to get a game for the Daredevils, ahead of Nathan Coulter-Nile. JP Duminy may be rested because of a recurring injury. For Kings XI Punjab, Rishi Dhawan and Farhaan Behardien are expected to take the place of Marcus Stoinis and Mohit Sharma in the side, who were completely ineffective in the last match against Gujarat Lions.
The Teams
Delhi Dardedevils: 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Sanju Samson, 5 Karun Nair, 6 Carlos Brathwaite, 7 Pawan Negi, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Zaheer Khan (capt), 11 Imran Tahir
Kings XI Punjab: 1 M Vijay, 2 Manan Vohra, 3 David Miller (capt), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 6 Marcus Stoinis/Farhaan Behardien, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Mohit Sharma/Rishi Dhawan, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Pardeep Sahu, 11 Sandeep Sharma
Match Conditions
The Feroz Shah Kotla track has the reputation of being a good one for spinners. So the fast bowlers are expected to struggle in tomorrow’s game. No chance of rain, so we will have a full day’s match.
Watch Delhi Daredevil take on Kings XI Punjab tonight at 8:00 pm live on Sony Six!
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