DC look to bounce back against Mercurial KKR

The battle of the North versus East is here. The fate of both the teams though has been completely antagonistic in nature of late. DC have won four and KKR have been beaten four times in this season. Since finishing last in 2018, DC have managed to finish in the top four in the last two seasons whereas KKR haven't managed to get a seat in the top four for the last two seasons, finishing fifth each time. The head-to-head record says 14-11 in favour of KKR but what it doesn't reflect is that the last four out of five times, it has been Delhi who have come out trumps. Cricket though has hardly bothered about statistics and KKR can take some solace and a barrage of hope from that. 

DC will have to be favorites. But what is common to both teams? Southpaw captains are struggling for form. Eoin Morgan did manage to pocket a Man of the Match award in his team's last game which was a low-scoring encounter whereas Pant managed to score a fifty in a losing cause. A 48-ball 58 for the Delhi Dasher certainly doesn't vindicate the abundance of talent he has when it comes to power hitting. Another thing in common has been a dwindling middle order for both sides. Steve Smith, Rishabh Pant, and Marcus Stoinis have blown more cold than hot. Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, and Andre Russell also haven't set the stage on fire for KKR either.

What to expect at Ahmedabad - Spin. Spin. Spin. Certain equations tend to infinity and the wicket at Ahmedabad will spin. You don't need to hedge your bets on this one. Death, taxes, and spin at Ahmedabad are a given. And then comes the question, which beam would be placed higher? Axar and Mishra or Narine and Chakravarthy? KKR might be tempted to give Kuldeep a go whereas Lalit Yadav might get a look in as well after Ravichandran Ashwin's departure. 

The Pant conundrum for Delhi

Since taking over the Delhi Capitals captaincy, Rishabh Pant has traded his fun and frolic demeanor for a more serious avatar - very uncharacteristic of him as a player. While that has seen him manage the situation in a very efficient manner, the visible effect on his batting is very hard to miss. In fact, it was a case observed in the last two IPLs. 

His Strike Rate has dropped below 130 in the last two seasons - a drastic fall from his three consecutive 160+ seasons in the IPL. He not only starts cautiously, as indicated by his strike rate of 89 in the first 10 balls but also has failed to accelerate post 20 balls with a the number propelling to only a sorry 132. In the absence of Shreyas Iyer, he has looked to bat through in the last two seasons but has failed to accelerate at the backend once he is set - a problem that was amplified in the RCB encounter. 

Pant also needs to improve his batting against the pacers in order to get the house in order. In the IPL 2021 so far, he has struggled to dispatch bad balls against pace this season with his Strike Rate being the lowest among players to have scored at least 100 runs this season. The Delhi skipper will have a huge onus to rectify his batting and serve the side well just the way he did against Rajasthan Royals earlier in the season.

The rise of Avesh Khan 

The rise of Avesh and the decline of Rabada is another talking point. Avesh Khan has snared up 12 scalps from 6 games and has made an impact with the new and old ball. Rabada on the other hand has been impotent with his bowling stocks this time. He has picked up only 5 wickets from 5 games which itself shows the impact that Avesh has had on the side this season.

The most important aspect of the young Indian pacer is his ability to hold the fort in all three phases of the innings without having to worry about the outcome. He is successful and he knows it, leading to a massive boost in confidence. In Powerplay, the Madhya Pradesh pacer has bowled more balls in good length (58%) and in middle overs, he has looked to be unpredictable with mixing up his lengths. In death overs, he has relied more on yorkers and low full tosses and short balls to leave the batsmen in a flux.

It’s imperative for Delhi Capitals that Avesh does well but they will also want their premier pacer Kagiso Rabada to fire on all cylinders to carry forward their recent dominance against the team from the East.