Delhi Capitals are yet to recover from the bruises left by Sunrisers Hyderabad in their 67-run hammering as the Rishabh Pant-led outfit prepares to host former champions Gujarat Titans in a reverse Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital on Wednesday.
It wasn’t an ideal homecoming for the Capitals as they failed to retain their two-match winning momentum and ended up being humiliated by the marauding SRH on Saturday. The loss left the Delhi Capitals slip to the eighth place in the IPL points tally with three wins and five losses.
As such the Delhi Capitals cannot afford any more slip-ups if they are to find themselves in the race to the play-offs. For that, a lot will depend on Pant’s leadership skills to spearhead the team’s turnaround as he was found erring in his decisions a few times, starting from the toss when he misjudged the dew factor in New Delhi and opted to bowl first against SRH.
Individually too, Pant can’t afford to be laid back while chasing mighty totals in excess of 200, as his 35-ball 44 in DC’s hunt for SRH’s 267 was only enough to reduce the deficit of loss. DC will also be hoping their opening combo of Prithvi Shaw and David Warner to fire in unison, and set the tone for the likes of Pant, and the other middle order power-hitters to explode towards the end of the innings.
Their only positive form the previous match was the hitting form of young Jake Fraser-McGurk, who smashed 65 off just 18 balls to keep DC in the hunt but he lacked support from the other end, even though Abhishek Porel (42 off 22) tried his best.
Delhi Capitals will also expect their bowling attack to use the home conditions to their advantage. Pace spearhead Anrich Nortje’s dismal form is DC’s biggest worry and as such the team would be desperately hoping veteran Ishant Sharma returns after missing the last game due to a back spasm. Left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed was also taken to the cleaners by the SRH openers during Saturday’s clash.
Axar Patel was the most economical bowler for DC against SRH, but got very little support from the other end, although Kuldeep Yadav managed to get four wickets but conceded the maximum number of sixes (7).
On the other hand, the Gujarat Titans have endured a similarly turbulent campaign in IPL 2024, and currently sit at the sixth spot after recording four wins and as many losses so far. They however, arrive in the national capital after registering a three-wicket victory against Punjab Kings, and will look to build on the momentum against Delhi.
Skipper Shubman Gill will be once again expected to lead from the front in the batting department, which comprises the likes of Sai Sudharsan, David Miller and Almatullah Omarzai as the middle order enforcers. Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan and Rashid Khan will be tasked with adding meat to their totals.
On the bowling front, GT will pin their hopes on their star spin trio of Rashid, Noor Ahmed and R Sai Kishore but must be mindful of the shorter boundaries that the Kotla offers. Sai Kishore came up with a four-wicket haul against Punjab Kings and will look to pose similar challenges to the DC top and middle order. The Titans’ pace bowling department will be led by the seasoned duo of Mohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav.