XtraTime Web Desk: Under new captain Shreyas Iyer a resurgent Delhi Daredevils will face Chennai Super Kings in a mouthwatering Indian Premier League encounter tomorrow.
As Delhi would fight to go up on the table, on the other hand MS Dhoni led yellow brigade will be keen to get back to the winning ways after facing a loss against Mumbai Indians by 8 wickets last night.
A depleted Delhi Daredevils were struggling under Gautam Gambhir got their much needed win against a formidable Kolkata Knight Riders after they changed their captain. The new skipper Shreyas Iyer took his side to a much needed win with his brilliant win.
Ricky Ponting-coached Delhi, now at the bottom of the table with just two wins out of seven games, however need to continue their winning spree to keep themselves in the hunt for the play-offs.
On the other hand, CSK’s confidence suffered a blow on Saturday night against another struggling outfit in defending champions Mumbai Indians.
It would still be an uphill ask for the Daredevils to beat CSK at their adopted home – the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium – but they cannot afford to lose.
Among other things, the Delhi outfit would hope that skipper Iyer continues to lead from the front as he did with a match-winning 93 not out against KKR.
Besides Iyer, other batsmen like opener Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant and allrounders Glenn Maxwell and Colin Munro too will have to play their part to perfection.
Australian Maxwell has been getting starts but is unable to convert them into big scores.
It would be interesting to see whether Daredevils again leave out Gambhir, who is out of form and did not figure in the playing eleven against KKR.
Delhi’s varied bowling stock too clicked in the last match and if the star-studded CSK batting line-up has to be checked, the visitors will have to bowl out of their skin.
On the other hand, returning to the IPL after serving a two-year suspension, CSK has been the team to look out for this season.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is back among runs with his traditional late flourish while in-form Ambati Rayadu, Shane Watson and Dwayne Bravo are also capable of making a mockery of the Delhi bowling attack.
The pleasing part for coach Stephen Fleming is that Suresh Raina has finally found his touch with an unbeaten 75 in a losing cause on Saturday.
With Sam Billings and Ravindra Jadeja in the side, CSK have depth in their batting.
But CSK bowlers were hammered by Mumbai Indians and will need to regroup and come strong on Monday.
Pacer Shardul Thakur needs to quickly get over from the mauling he received at the hands of Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma alongside legspinner Imran Tahir.
To make matters worse for CSK, Deepak Chahar, who could not complete his third over in the game, has been ruled out for a few weeks after sustaining a hamstring injury. On the spin front, veteran Harbhajan Singh will be crucial to choke up runs in the middle overs.
Teams (from)
Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf Du Plesis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayadu, Deepak Chahar, K M Asif, Kanish Seth, Lungi Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Kshtiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan, David Willy.
Delhi Daredevils: Shreyas Iyer (C), Rishabh Pant, Glenn Maxwell, Gautam Gambhir, Jason Roy, Colin Munro, Mohammed Shami, Amit Mishra, Prithvi Shaw, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Daniel Christian, Jayant Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Trent Boult, Manjot Kalra, Abhishek Sharma, Sandeep Lamichhane, Naman Ojha, Sayan Ghosh, Liam Plunkett, Junior Dala.