Two teams who’ve never won an IPL will take on each other on 20th Sept at 7:30PM. It’s Delhi Capitals vs Kings XI Punjab. DC has never reached an IPL final, but are coming off a great season from 2019 where they ended up 3rd. KXIP, on the other hand ended up as Runners Up in 2014, and ended up 6th in the 2019 season.
KXIP’s latest addition in Glenn Maxwell would be a great asset for them and they would expect his 2014 form to be back. He’s also coming off with a 77 and a 108 in the 3 match ODI series against England. He, alongside Rahul, Gayle, Pooran could make a very destructive batting unit for the oppositions. Mujeeb Ur Rahman was the second highest wicket taker in CPL 2020 and was one of the best players in that tournament, and is also in red-hot form to add to KXIP’s advantages. Their biggest disadvantage would be in choosing their 4 overseas players with the likes of Jordan, Cottrell and Neesham also in the side. They also lack quality and experienced Indian players in their squad, other than Shami and Rahul. Their top 6 don’t bowl at all unless one asks Gayle to roll his arm a bit, which means that they need to play with 5 regular bowlers and their tail would be long.
DC’s addition in Ravichandran Ashwin and Daniel Sams have ensured that they do have a quality off spinner and a wicket taking left arm seam option in their side. The biggest advantage they have is their Left-Right combination in their batting order throughout. Due to the nature of Feroz Shah Kotla wickets, they could also adapt to the pitch conditions easily. The biggest disadvantage they have is that they don’t have a proper off spin backup to Ashwin which means that he would have to be a surety in the playing XI and would occupy a spot and lead to Mishra/Lamichanne sitting out for majority of the season. Also, they have invested highly in Right-Arm seamers with 8 out of 22 players being of exactly the same kind.
Both captains who’ve just lead their side in one season and are still yet to gain experience in their leadership roles would be taking on each other in this thrilling encounter tonight!
Probable XIs and why –
DC – Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant(Wk), Shreyas Iyer(C), Shimron Hetmeyer, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Daniel Sams, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada
Having Daniel Sams over Keemo Paul would give a left-arm seam option to bowl alongside Ishant and Rabada. Marcus Stoinis would give a 6th bowling option as well as the depth in the batting order to handle the finishing roles, even though he has been more successful as an opener in the BBL. Axar and Ashwin’s combo would tackle KXIP’s left-right combo since both turn the ball away in different directions. It would be a toss up between Amit Mishra/Sandeep Lamichanne/Daniel Sams for their 11th spot, depending on the team management whether to go with a leg spinner or a left arm seamer.
KXIP – KL Rahul(C)(Wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Aggarwal, Glenn Maxwell, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan/Karun Nair, Chris Jordan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ravi Bishnoi/Krishnappa Gowtham, Ishan Porel, Mohammad Shami
Having players like Nicholas Pooran and Sheldon Cottrell at the bench would be something that KXIP would address to. Karun Nair is a steady player whereas Sarfaraz is a finisher, so probably the latter might be preferred to play at that No.6 spot. Only one out of Gayle/Pooran could play since they need to have 5 regular bowling options in their side. Krishnappa Gowtham could be played ahead of Bishnoi, but having two off spinners and no leggies would be a concern for them. Even though both Mujeeb and Gowtham have great variations, Bishnoi could be in the scheme of things to bring that leg spin option.
Pitch Report –
The match would be played at a new venue, Dubai. So a fresh wicket awaits the players and it could be a high scoring game with 160+ scores.
Fantasy Tips for safe players –
C/VC choices – Iyer, Pant, Rahul, Maxwell
Analysis of various cricket matches 