Delhi Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals gear up for the DLF IPL second match
Delhi Daredevils, led by Virender Sehwag, takes on the Rajasthan Royals, led by Shane Warne, on its home turf Delhi, on April 19, 2008.
Described by many as the worst team on paper, Delhi Daredevils seems to have an advantage over Rajasthan Royals with a great fielding side and more pinchhitters.
Delhi Daredevils
The Delhi Daredevils is a mixed bag team of youth and experience. They have the flashy Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, who were bagged for $833,750 and $725,000, respectively. Both are good Twenty20 players.
The Delhi Daredevils can also boast of South African AB De Villiers who is in great nick right now, New Zealand Captain Daniel Vettori, and Sri Lankan Tilakratne Dilshan. Daniel Vettori seems to be having a great time in the warm climes of Delhi, considering the toungue in cheek ad spots he has been figuring in on TV in Delhi.
The Delhi team also has youngsters like Rajat Bhatia, Shikhar Dhawan, Mithun Manhas and Mayank Tehlan, Pradeep Sangwan, and Yo Mahesh. All have done exceptionally well in the domestic season recently.
The batting line-up looks well balanced with hitters like Virender Sehwag (Twenty 20 strike rate of 133.6), Gautam Gambhir (Twenty20 strike rate of 129.71), and Del Villiers (Twenty20 strike rate: 103.7), and consistent players like Shoaib Malik Twenty 20 strike rate of 123.01), and Dilshan (Twenty 20 strike rate of 102.94). The line-up is backed up by Dinesh Kartik, Rajat Bhatia, Manhas and Tehlan.
Batsman Rajat Bhatia was instrumental in securing Delhi’s Ranji Trophy win after 16 years.
The bowling line-up looks good with Glen McGrath, Australian ex-strike bowler, who was man-of-the-series in the last World Cup, spinner Daniel Vettori, Mohammad Asif, and Maharoof. Left-arm pacer Pradeep Sangwan was the star of the Under-19 World Cup that India won.
Best Feature: The Daredevils have a superb fielding outfit, with brilliant fielders like Villiers and Dilshan, supported by six very athletic youngsters.
Key Players: Virender Sehwag, Glenn McGrath, and AB De Villiers
Disadvantage: A shaky bowling attack with Asif and Maharoof battling with injuries while Vettori is off to join the New Zeland team’s tour to England.
Rajasthan Royals
The Rajasthan Royals biggest ace-in-the-pack is captain-coach Shane Warne. Considered the finest leg-spinner in the world, Warne is the only non-Indian captain in the DLF IPL tournament. The other big draw is Shane Warne’s archrival Graeme Smith, captain of the South Africa team.
Graeme Smith has a fantastic record with the bat. He has played 115 ODIs and has a strike rate of 82.62. In International Twenty20s, Smith has played 10 matches and has a strike rate of 132.71.
The Rajasthan Royals also have pinchhitter Dmitri Mascarenhas, who has an ODI strike rate of 116.67 and an International Twenty20 strike rate of 105.41. He is famous for hitting five consecutive sixes off the final five balls of an innings against India in 2007. Mascarenhas is pretty much the Rajasthan Royals trump card.
The Rajasthan Royals also have Mohammad Kaif, Kamran Akmal (Twenty 20 strike rate of 116.92), Sohail Tanvir and Younus Khan (Twenty 20 strike rate of 118.92).
The other players in the squad are Yusuf Pathan, Niraj Patel, Siddharth Trivedi, Ravindra Jadeja, Swapnil Asnodkar, Taruwar Kohli, Jaydev Shah, Sumeet Khatri, Parag More, Mahesh Rawat, Pankaj Singh and Dinesh Salunkhe.
Key Player: Dmitri Mascarenhas
Disadvantage : Graeme Smith will miss the first two matches in the IPL tournament and will be replaced by former Australian batsman Darren Lehman. Smith will be back on April 24, 2008.