IPL 2016, Match 23, Delhi Daredevils (DD) vs Gujarat Lions (GL): Probable Playing 11 for Zaheer Khan lead Delhi Daredevils (Confirmed Playing 11)

Confirmed Playing 11: Quinton de Kock(w), Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Jean-Paul Duminy, Pawan Negi, Chris Morris, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan(c), Shahbaz Nadeem, Imran Tahir

It will be a battle for supremacy as two in-form teams, the Delhi Daredevils and Gujarat Lions, lock horns in the 23rd match of the VIVO IPL 2016 at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, New Delhi. The Gujarat team has been on fire ever since the start of the 9th edition of the IPL as they have won 4 out of the 5 matches. Their opponents on Wednesday, the Daredevils, began with a bad loss but have recovered remarkably to win 3 matches on the trot. GL and DD are currently placed 2nd and 3rd in the points table respectively. While the Lions are looking to put up an impressive showing in their debut season, Delhi will want to shrug off the disappointment from the past few editions and make a big impact.

Also read: IPL 2016, DD vs GL Playing 11: Probable Squad for Suresh Raina Gujarat Lions

Let's take a look at the expected Delhi Daredevils team for the match:

Batting

Quinton de Kock has been the main man for Delhi as far as their batting is concerned. The southpaw has scored 193 runs in 4 matches and is the first batsman to hit a century in this year's IPL. Apart from de Kock, Sanju Samson is the only other DD batsman to have surpassed the 100-run mark in the season.

Their ace batsman over the past few years, JP Duminy, has also shown glimpses of being in good touch with a quickfire 49 in the match against Mumbai Indians. The other batsmen haven't really looked the part for the Delhi Daredevils and will need to improve on their performance to help the team progress further.

All-rounders

Talking of the Daredevils all-rounders, they have not made much of an impact till now in this IPL. Pawan Negi, Carlos Brathwaite, and Chris Morris have not contributed too much with the bat; however, Morris has been pretty impressive in terms of his bowling. Duminy, who has played an all-rounder role in the past, is yet to bowl a single delivery this year.

A better effort will be required from the all-rounders if the Delhi team wants to pose a serious threat towards the business end of the 2016 IPL.

Bowling

Among the DD bowlers, Amit Mishra has been the wrecker-in-chief with 7 wickets in just 4 matches and a splendid economy rate of exactly 6. Chris Morris has also been quite brilliant despite having taken only 2 wickets thus far. Skipper Zaheer Khan has managed to pick up 3 wickets but has been far too expensive, giving away his runs at 8.32 per over.

The returning Mohammed Shami has represented Delhi Daredevils in their last 2 matches and has claimed 2 victims in the 7 overs he has bowled. However, there hasn’t been much support for Mishra in the spin department with Negi struggling and Imran Tahir having played just 1 game yet. The dependency on the Indian leggie needs to be reduced for Delhi to perform even better going forward.

Probable Playing XI

Quinton de Kock (wk), Mayank Agarwal, Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, JP Duminy, Pawan Negi, Chris Morris, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan (c), Mohammed Shami, Imran Tahir.