While Rajasthan Royals almost snatched an improbable victory against the Mumbai Indians while chasing 212, Delhi Daredevils managed to prevail over Punjab. The contest between the Royals and the Daredevils will show whether Shane Warne continues to inspire his men and whether Gambhir’s stars can live up to their image.
Delhi Daredevils
They might have won their opening game of the tournament against the Kings XI Punjab, but their star-studded batting line-up left much to be desired, making a heavy weather of a modest 143. If it wasn’t for captain Gautam Gambhir’s gritty knock, the Daredevils would have seriously struggled to reach the target. The team will be hoping that the collective failure of Sehwag, Dilshan and de Villiers was an aberration, and that they will come out with all guns blazing against the Rajasthan Royals.
Gambhir wouldn’t be losing much sleep over his bowling attack, which did a brilliant job to restrict the strong Punjab batting under 150. Though their task is expected to become easier against the Royals, the Daredevils will do well not to relax and get complacent, especially after seeing Yusuf Pathan going ballistic against Mumbai.
To give finishing touches to his already well-balanced side, Gambhir can consider including Rajat Bhatia in the team. Besides, being a useful allrounder who can bat according to the situation, Bhatia is also coming off a good domestic season.
Rajasthan Royals
Yusuf Pathan’s hurricane hundred going in vain against Mumbai goes to show that if the Royals want to make a mark in IPL-3, they’ll have to perform as a team rather than depend on individual brilliance.
Being the most prolific batsman in the Rajasthan batting line-up, Graeme Smith needs to take up the responsibility to carry the inexperienced youngsters through the innings. Warne might also consider sending Pathan to open the batting with Smith to give his most in-form player maximum overs to bat and also unsettle the opposition bowlers.
After being walloped by two Mumbai youngsters, the bowling department needs to go back to the drawing board and come up with something truly special to get the better of Delhi's batting line-up. While it would be unfair to dump Shaun Tait after one bad outing, Warne might just be tempted to go with Morne Morkel, who recently did well in Indian conditions.
Teams (Probable XI):
Delhi Daredevils: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Virender Sehwag, Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB de Villiers, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rajat Bhatia, Mithun Manhas, Amit Mishra, Farveez Maharoof, Pradeep Sangwan, Dirk Nannes
Rajasthan Royals: Graeme Smith, Swapnil Asnodkar, Naman Ojha (wk), Yusuf Pathan, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Damien Martyn, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Amit Uniyal, Paras Dogra, Shane Warne (capt), Shaun Tait/ Morne Morkel
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