Ground Reality and Pitch:
The Feroz Shah Kotla, established in 1883, is one of the premier grounds in India. The Kotla hosted its first Test match in 1948 when a John Goddard led West Indian side toured India. This ground is world renowned for the 10 wickets in an innings bagged by Anil Kumble against Pakistan in 1999. The Feroz Shah Kotla came under a lot of critisism on Friday by various captains follow its low nature and indiffferent bounce. The Delhi team would be praying for a pitch that would be more batsmen friendly.
Temperatures: Min-21 C Max-33 C | Forecast: Clear Skies
Team Updates:
Delhi: The Daredevils had a disastrous start to their Champions League campaign as Victoria Bushrangers humiliated them by seven wickets in their own backyard in the opening match, which means the game against Wayamba is a must-win situation for the Gautam Gambhir-led side. The Daredevils batting-line boasts of some big names like Virender Sehwag, Gambhir, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Owais Shah among others but they cut a sorry figure against a disciplined Victoria attack last night as the Delhi side could manage only 98 runs. senior players like Gambhir and Sehwag will have to take the responsibility to guide the side through as a repeat of such a shoddy display by the batters will undoubtedly close the next stage doors for Daredevils.
Waymaba: The team from Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are an unknown entity in this tournament and do not have any foreign recruit in their side, which might work in their favour considering the gelling among the players. With the likes of former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, Mubarak, Farvez Mahroof, Ajantha Mendis, Isuru Udana among others up its rank, Wayamba has plenty of international experience in their team.
Players to Watch:
Sehwag: The Delhi Dasher looked in good touch in the first match, hitting a couple of sweetly timed boundaries, until a good catch brought about his downfall. Sehwag would look to put that behind and hope to get amongst the runs against Wayamba.
Mahela Jayawardene: The former Sri Lankan captain is no stranger to sub continent conditions. Having played numerous matches and also representing Punjab in the IPL, Mahela has enough experience to handle the Delhi bowlers in an effective way.
Numbers Game:
19: The number of wickets taken by Ashish Nehra during the second edition of the IPL.
36.50: Mahela Jayawardene’s average during IPL 2009. He played 10 matches and has managed to score one fifty.
Sound Bytes:
There is huge responsibility on me and Sehwag. From here we have to win every game if we want to be there in the competition. We have nothing to lose and I hope we will put up a much better performance in the next match: Gautam Gambhir
We know each other very well. Our big advantage is that we have played together for the last two years, so we know each other’s strength and weaknesses: Jehan Mubarrak captain of the Wayamba team
Teams:
Delhi Daredevils (From): Gautam Gambhir(c), Virender Sehwag, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Owais Shah, Dinesh Karthik(w), Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia, Amit Mishra, Dirk Nannes, Ashish Nehra, Aavishkar Salvi, Pradeep Sangwan, Manoj Kumar Tiwary, Yogesh Nagar
Wayamba (From): Jehan Mubarak(c), Mahela Udawatte, Mahela Jayawardene, Michael Vandort, Ishara Amerasinghe, Sameera de Zoysa(w), Farveez Maharoof, Rangana Herath, Kausal Lokuarachchi, Ajantha Mendis, Isuru Udana, Shalika Karunanayake, Jeevantha Kulatunga, Thissara Perera, Chanaka Welegedara
