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Mitchell Marsh's brute force with the willow will be the Delhi Capitals' lethal weapon as they prepare for life without Rishabh Pant as they kick off...
Digital Desk: Mitchell Marsh's brute force with the willow will be the Delhi Capitals' lethal weapon as they prepare for life without Rishabh Pant as they kick off their Indian Premier League season against Lucknow Super Giants on Saturday.
LSG, who will be playing at home for the first time, is an equally beleaguered team, if not more so, with skipper KL Rahul going through the toughest period of his career and has been on a downward spiral for quite some time now.
Neither DC nor LSG look to be teams that evoke champions like the Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians, or Chennai Super Kings.
In the shortest format, however, equations can alter at the drop of a hat because the margin between a masterstroke and a harakiri is as thin as a thread.
So, when DC kicks off its journey on Saturday evening at Ekana Stadium, it will be an Australian who will hold the key to the kind of start that the franchise anticipates.
And that Australian isn't the stocky New South Wales batsman David Warner, who is heading the team, but the giant from Western Australia, who has given something of a trailer during the ODI series against India, with 12 sixes in three games, 11 of which came in the first two games.
Marsh appears to have a handle on Indian courses, which can only bode well for DC.
Marsh, who hasn't bowled his medium pacers in a while, will be an important cog in Powerplay overs if Warner and his flamboyant opening companion Prithvi Shaw can't get going.
DC head coach Ricky Ponting has high expectations for Shaw, who can annihilate any attack on his day. Shaw also enjoys working with speed, and Mark Wood, a player on the other team, offers him that chance with a speed of more than 150 clicks.
Warner has been a different beast in the IPL and one of the most important players in the league, but his razor-sharp edge has been absent for some time now as he is also recovering from an elbow injury.
He hasn't exactly appeared in great rhythm, but once the match begins, he has the potential to make everyone look and feel foolish.
However, with the sizzling Pant nursing a leg injury as a result of a horrifying car accident, the DC middle-order save Rovman Powell does not encourage confidence.
Axar Patel's batting has improved significantly in red-ball cricket, but there are no assurances that the form will carry over to the shortest version as well.
Yash Dhull still does not appear to be fit for top-flight cricket, and Sarfaraz Khan may be under a lot of pressure after being handed the big gloves.
Furthermore, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, and Mustafizur Rahaman's absence from the first game due to national service thins the bowling attack.
Ishant Sharma has appeared completely out of rhythm, while Khaleel Ahmed and Chetan Sakariya aren't exactly intimidating pacers with the potential to win games of cricket on their own. Mukesh Kumar, who is about to make his debut, has yet to be challenged at this level.
In most games, the eight overs between spinners Axar and Kuldeep Yadav will be critical for DC.
But the bigger question is whether Rahul will be able to seize the night against a weak bowling attack in his present form and mental state. How much can Kyle Mayers make up for Quinton de Kock, who is also absent due to national obligations?
These are issues that call for answers. In terms of 'Impact Player,' Lucknow has more options with someone like Amit Mishra, who could be used against Marsh or Powell. The rotund Mishra still has the ability to halt batsmen in their tracks.
Ponting, who saw Mumbai's Aman Khan at the nets, is presumably considering using him as a "Impact Player" for DC.
But the performance of the Indian trio of Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni, and Deepak Hooda, a Rs 16 crore investment, will determine how LSG's competition turns out.
For KL Rahul, it will not only be about the quantity of runs scored, but also about the kind of intent he is displaying, as well as consistency in strike-rate, where it is not just about making up for lost deliveries near the close of the innings.
Teams (from):
Delhi Capitals: David Warner (c), Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Rilee Rossouw, Sarfaraz Khan (wk), Phil Salt (wk), Abhishek Porel (wk), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Lalit Yadav, Ripal Patel, Ishant Sharma, Chetan Sakariya, Khaleel Ahmed, Aman Hakim Khan, Praveen Dubey, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Yash Dhull, Mukesh Kumar, Vicky Ostwal.
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c and wk), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Amit Mishra, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Naveen ul Haq, Ayush Badoni, Avesh Khan, Karan Sharma, Yudhvir Charak, Yash Thakur, Romario Shepherd, Mark Wood, Swapnil Singh, Manan Vohra, Daniel Sams, Prerak Mankad, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jaydev Unadkat, Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav.
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