After a dreadful start to the campaign, the Delhi Capitals seem to be gradually finding their footing. The team has won 3 out of their last 4 matches and climbed to 6th place. However, they haven’t completely emerged from the crisis yet, and they will need to continue gaining momentum. Rishabh Pant seems to have found form in the team’s last match against GT, marking his third half-century of the season. A closer look at the statistics reveals that he scored 62 out of 88 runs against Mohit Sharma! He scored only 26 runs off 25 balls against the other bowlers. He will once again be a key player with the bat for the Capitals in the middle order alongside Tristan Stabb, who can easily clear the ropes. The South African has consistently been perhaps the best player in the Columbia District this season. Prithvi Shaw and David Warner have been a bit inconsistent at the top of the order. This is precisely why DC chose Fraser McGurk in the opening slot of the previous match. The young Australian has scored almost 66% of all his runs in the IPL in boundaries! Axar Patel secured third place on Wednesday and earned a well-deserved century. His form gives the Capitals some flexibility in changing the batting order. Patel is also the most economical bowler in the team and has taken 7 wickets. He will join Kuldeep Yadav in the spin department, who has been simply superb throughout. The seam attack also looks quite solid: Khalil Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar have taken 10 wickets each. Rasiq Salam took 3 wickets in the last match and is likely to retain his place in the playing eleven. The big question will be whether to include Anrich Nortje. He has been extremely expensive and seems to lack confidence. DC may decide to bench him for this match.
Things haven’t been smooth sailing for the Mumbai Indians as they have won only 3 out of 8 matches played so far. Although they have plenty of matches ahead, they need to start winning some games to find themselves in the upper half of the table. A lot will depend on Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan. They’ve provided the team with a good start but haven’t been consistent enough. Tilak Varma is another solid performer in the batting lineup, averaging 45.50 across 8 innings. Currently, he’s undoubtedly the top batter for MI. However, it’s the middle order that continues to be a stumbling block for Mumbai. Although Suryakumar Yadav has scored 2 half-centuries, his fluency hasn’t been up to the mark. SKY seems to either play blind shots or get out cheaply. Hardik Pandya, Tim David, and Romario Shepherd have failed to provide the team with momentum during the death overs. This seems to be due to Hardik Pandya’s poor hitting abilities. He faces too many balls at crucial moments, often squandering any momentum he builds. As a result, Tim David and others are left with insufficient time to power through the final overs. The story continues with the bowling as well. Jasprit Bumrah leads the season’s wicket-takers with 13 scalps, skillfully backed up by Trent Boult, who has 12. However, other bowlers, including Akash Madhav, Shreyas Gopal, and Piyush Chawla, have failed to contain the opposition’s batting lineup. Except for Bumrah, who is a world-class player in all aspects, none of the other bowlers seem to be nightmare-inducing for the opponents.
