The Delhi Daredevils and the Kings XI Punjab have been two of the consistently underperforming teams of the IPL over the last few years. Both teams, though, enter this year’s IPL with a lot of hope and enthusiasm. They have rebuilt their squad around some quality players and their fans can legitimately hope for some better results. Will the Delhi Daredevils team of explosive T20 batsmen be able to subdue the Kings XI Punjab team headlined by ageing T20 superstars?
It was meant to be a grand homecoming for Gautam Gambhir and, along with that, a change in Delhi Daredevils’ fortunes when the season was starting. Five games down, and they are back to where they were when Gambhir last played for Daredevils.
For the second time in a fortnight, Kings XI Punjab will clash with Delhi Daredevils. Since that campaign-opener, Kings XI have picked up steam to reach the top of the points table, while Daredevils finds itself in the cellar even before its first home game.
Source: NDTV Sports
Despite having a two-time IPL winning captain leading them this year, Delhi Daredevils' outing has been woeful this year. Multiple rejigs have been made, fresh faces brought in, but results seem to be the same. Pant leads the batting charts for them at 223 runs while the others have all scored less than hundred runs so far. Apart from Trent Boult and Tewatia, their bowling has been uninspiring while Morris and Shankar have been disappointing.
Source: Hindustan Times
In contrast, Kings XI Punjab has been one of the most impressive sides this tournament. Ashwin’s captaincy has been top-notch, and their top order has been in such good form that the middle order has barely got a look-in. The only worrying points for them would be Axar Patel’s fitness and Yuvraj Singh’s insipid performances.
After 5 consecutive away matches, which yielded just 1 win, Delhi will be hoping a shift back home would also bring with it a change in fortunes.
DD vs KXIP Team News
Delhi Daredevils
Kings XI Punjab
Delhi Daredevils:
Kings XI Punjab:
Predicted 11:
Delhi Daredevils: 1 Jason Roy, 2 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Vijay Shankar, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Rahul Tewatia, 9 Shahbaz Nadeem/Jayant Yadav, 10 Harshal Patel, 11 Trent Boult
Kings XI Punjab: 1 KL Rahul (wk), 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Mayank Agarwal, 4 Karun Nair, 5 Aaron Finch, 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Mujeeb ur Rahman, 9 Andrew Tye, 10 Barinder Sran, 11 Mohit Sharma/Ankit Rajpoot