Big picture - KL Rahul set to make DC debut
Travishek fear no one. Except, maybe, Mitchell Starc. Travis Head does not like facing Starc, and after taking strike and being bowled by the big left-arm quick for a two-ball duck in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2024, he let Abhishek Sharma take first strike in the final, and you know what happened next.
Starc now takes the new ball for a different team, and he'll be up against Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) gun opening pair again on Sunday afternoon. If Starc can have the same sort of impact, it would be a major relief for a Delhi Capitals (DC) bowling unit that also includes Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar. Last season, these three were on the receiving end of an onslaught from Head and Abhishek that blasted SRH to a record IPL powerplay score of 125 for 0. That was in Delhi. This time, the battle shifts to Visakhapatnam, where DC staged a stunning comeback win against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their most recent game. SRH, meanwhile, are coming off a defeat to the same opponents.
DC's opening victory was built on resilience. With the ball, they clawed back to restrict LSG to 209 despite letting them get to an ominous 161 for 2 in 13 overs. With the bat, they resurrected themselves from 66 for 5 to scrape past their target with three balls to spare. Even when they crumbled in both powerplays and both post-powerplay phases, they refused to tap out.
That resilience will be key as they seek a second win, armed with fresh insights on containing SRH. LSG's strategy of treating the full 20 overs like the death proved effective, and DC have the personnel to replicate it. Mohit Sharma and Mukesh have the skillsets, and Axar and Kuldeep bring another year of wisdom.
But DC are not without problems of their own. Their top order misfired against LSG, and they can't keep relying on their lower order to keep bailing them out. New father KL Rahul is set to make his franchise debut, and DC will have to figure out the best way to fit him into their line-up. And they'll be wary of an SRH unit that will be desperate to prove that Thursday's loss was a mere aberration.
Team news and likely XIIs
With Rahul set to play, he is expected to slot in at No. 4, likely replacing Sameer Rizvi. Mukesh's availability remains uncertain after he sustained an ankle sprain against LSG, while T Natarajan, who is recovering from a shoulder issue, is unlikely to feature against his former team. If Mukesh is ruled out, Darshan Nalkande could step in. Another possibility is retaining Rizvi, dropping Fraser-McGurk, and bringing in fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera.
Delhi Capitals: 1 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 2 Faf du Plessis, 3 Abishek Porel (wk), 4 KL Rahul, 5 Axar Patel (capt), 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Ashutosh Sharma, 8 Vipraj Nigam, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Mohit Sharma, 12 Mukesh Kumar/Darshan Nalkande.
There are no injury concerns in the SRH camp and they could field an unchanged team.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Travis Head, 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Aniket Verma, 7 Abhinav Manohar, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Simarjeet Singh, 12 Adam Zampa.
Big question
Where is Rahul best used? No. 4 seems to be the likely slot, and why not: that's his best position (min. five innings) in terms of both average (49.08) and strike rate (139.90).
It's as opener that Rahul made his mark in the format, however, and a position from where he once smashed a 14-ball fifty, at the time the quickest in the IPL. With Fraser-McGurk out of form, is there a case for Rahul to partner Faf du Plessis at the top?
In the spotlight - Kuldeep Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy
Against SRH in Delhi last season, Kuldeep Yadav endured a brutal start, getting hit for four sixes in his first seven balls by Abhishek. But he responsed by dismissing Abhishek, Head, Aiden Markram and Nitish Kumar Reddy, three of whom will feature on Saturday. He conceded 55 in four overs, but his breakthroughs prevented SRH from soaring beyond their final total of 266. Head, in particular, has shown signs of struggling against left-arm wristspin, being dismissed twice in nine balls against that style of bowling in the IPL, which makes Kuldeep a option to bring on early if the South Australian starts ominously against the new ball. As LSG proved against SRH, wickets are the only way to contain their explosive line-up.
Though SRH play this as an "away" game in Visakhapatnam, Nitish Kumar Reddy will be right at home in the city of his birth. SRH have earmarked him as a long-term player and he has started the season with scores of 32 and 30. Sandwiched between them at No. 4, Reddy is the perfect foil for Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen, and he's a major threat against spin, as his IPL strike rate of 170.19 since the start of 2024 suggests.
Pitch and conditions
It's an afternoon game on a batting-friendly surface, so a 200-plus first-innings score should be the expectation. In the IPL, the team batting first has won 50% of all matches in Visakhapatnam. The last three first-innings totals in the IPL here have been 191, 272 and 209.
Key stats
Head vs Starc in all recognized cricket: seven innings, eight runs, 29 balls, five dismissals, 0 boundaries. Of the five dismissals, four have been bowled and one caught behind.
Faf du Plessis has a favourable match-up against Mohammed Shami in the IPL, scoring 106 runs in 61 balls for only two dismissals. However Shami has been brilliant against KL Rahul, allowing only 28 runs to be scored in 31 balls while dismissing him twice.
In the IPL, Axar Patel has an economy rate of just 6.51 against right-hand batters, but has gone at 9.07 against left-hand batters.
Next three fixtures
DC are on the road next to play against Chennai Super Kings (Apr 5) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Apr 10) before returning to Delhi for a home match against Mumbai Indians on April 13.
SRH fly to Kolkata for a match against Kolkata Knight Riders (Apr 3) before playing Gujarat Titans (Apr 6) and Punjab Kings (Apr 12) at home.
Quotes
"KL Rahul is back in our team and that will help us a lot with our balance. But you can't judge any team from one game. All our players are really good, they are experienced, and hopefully we'll do well in this match."
DC allrounder Vipraj Nigam has full faith in their top order despite their early stutter against LSG
"The press has made 300 a target [for us], but we have [almost] achieved it, [with totals of] 286, 287. You never know if it will happen. Two batters have to score big and get it there. Nothing is impossible in cricket."
SRH bowling coach Muthiah Muralidaran is happy for his team to be talked up as the likeliest to break the 300 barrier in the IPL
