Delhi look to deny Pune hat trick of wins (Preview)

There has been a contrasting start to the IPL campaigns of Pune and Delhi. While Pune-playing for the first time in the event-have had a dream beginning winning both of their matches in some style, Delhi are yet to show any dare devil act as their opponents Rajasthan and Mumbai have outplayed them in the two games Virendar Sehwag led side played this season.

Hat-trick word will be on the minds of both captains. Sehwag would look to avoid hat-trick of losses his opposite number Yuvraj Singh, Pune skipper, would be keen to score another win to make it three in three.

Despite only in their first season, Pune, it appears, have gelled together as a unit. Right men have been assigned with right jobs and players seem to be enjoying their roles. The side has been well led by Yuvraj who seems to be keen to drive home a point viz-a--viz his leadership skills.

What would boost Pune team’s confidence is the fact that last game was a close fought and it was them who came trumps in the tight situations. Youngster Monish Mishra kept his cool under pressure to see his home through after big guns were all back in the hut.

Shorn of a big name in bowling department, fast bowling trio of Alfonso Thomas, Shrikant Wagh and Wayne Parnell have done an excellent job making early inroads in both the games. They have pegged back opponents early which forced them to do the rearguard action rather than going after them. There is a chink in armour though with spinners not been able to keep the pressure in the middle overs. Spin department hasn’t been tested so much so far as fast bowlers have taken wickets upfront.

Batting effort has been led by Robin Uthappa and Monish Mishra but big guns like Graeme Smith and Yuvraj are yet to set the stage on fire. Sunday’s encounter might be the occasion for them to have some fireworks from the bat of senior men and if that is the case Delhi are in serious trouble.

For Delhi to rely too heavily on Sehwag’s batting heroics have cost them dearly. Sehwag’s failure with bat and nothing substantial from other batsmen has led to the Delhi’s poor run. To make a turnaround, Sehwag must fire with the bat and should rub on to the other batters as well. If he performs with the bat, his captaincy will have more zing and pro-activeness.

Former Hyderabad batsman, Venugopal Rao has been Delhi’s best batsman scoring in both the matches including an aggressive 60 in the last match. David Warner too had a good outing with the bat against Rajasthan but local recruits have disappointed surrendering meekly to Lasith Malinga’s pace and Shane Warne’s spin in first and second game respectively.

In contrary, bowlers have given a good account of themselves with South African fast bowler Morne Morkel best of all. He has been his usual self extracting lot of bounce to make things difficult for the batsman but in both matches he and his bowling colleagues hadn’t much to defend.

Like Pune, side lacks a quality spinner which has hampered them hard and Sehwag has conceded this already. For Delhi to put up a fight and deny Pune their third victory on a trot, all aspects of their game need to be tightened up.

DY Patel Stadium, in the previous encounters, has offered something to fast bowlers and Pune has made most of their opportunities.

The Sunday encounter will see a fascinating battle between Morkel and co. against likes of Yuvraj, Smith and Uthappa and same should be expected when Pune fast bowlers are in operation against explosive pair of Sehwag and Warner.

PUNE

Players who can make impact…

Wayne Parnell…This left arm fast bowler who has been in and out of South African team has been highly regarded in terms of his fast bowling skills by the cricket pundits. He ripped heart out of Kochi taking three early wickets to give his team an early advantage. He can swing the ball and with DY Patel stadium offering some swing to fast bowlers, Parnell can be one who will make early inroads.

Monish Mishra…Not only he hit some lusty blows off some like Muralitharan, this talented and aggressive right handed batsman showed that he has a calm head on his shoulders. With his confidence sky high after a match winning knock, he will be keen to continue to enhance his reputation as one of the young batsmen going around in the country.

SQUAD

Yuvraj Singh (c) A Jhunjhunwala, Alfonso Thomas, Angelo Mathews, Ashish Nehra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Callum Ferguson, Dheeraj Jadhav, Eklavya Dwivedi, Ganesh Gaikwad, Graeme Smith, Harpreet Singh, Harshad Khadiwale, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Jerome Taylor, Jesse Ryder, Kamran Khan, Manish Pandey, Mitchell Marsh, Mithun Manhas, Monish Mishra, Murali Kartik, Nathan McCullum, Rahul Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Sachin Rana, Shrikant Mundhe, Shrikant Wagh, Tim Paine (wk), Wayne Parnell

DELHI

Players who can make impact…

Morne Morkel….This tall fast bowler from South Africa is in form of his life eradicating all his problems of the past like over-stepping and spraying it around. He has found a teasing length over eighteen months or so and has been amongst the wickets regularly. He is the clear leader of Delhi attack and his team would need his wicket taking abilities to get off the mark in the IPL.

Virendar Sehwag….He has his own way of batting and doesn’t have any other gear than top gear. He sees the ball and hits it. Delhi dasher hasn’t been at his best in first two games but his role and significance can’t be overruled. If it is his day, Delhi will think of their first win this season.

SQUAD

Aaron Finch, Aavishkar Salvi , Ajit Agarkar , Ajit Chandila , Andrew McDonald , Ashok Dinda , Colin Ingram, David Warner,Irfan Pathan, James Hopes, Matthew Wade (wk), Morne Morkel, Naman Ojha (wk), Prashant Naik, Rajesh Pawar, Robert Frylinck,Robin Bist, Roelof van der Merwe, Shahbaz Nadeem , Sridharan Sriram , Tejashwi Yadav, Travis Birt, Umesh Yadav, Unmukt Chand, Varun Aaron, Venugopal Rao, Vikas Mishra, Virender Sehwag(c), Vivek Yadav,Yogesh Nagar