Despite boasting of a strong squad, the Delhi Daredevils have faltered this season. Apart from a few positive performances from youngsters like Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant, DD haven’t had too much to smile about. Angelo Mathews, Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris too have flown back to South Africa for national duty.
DD now have only pride to play for and personal landmarks, as the young batsmen in their squad would like to press their case for national team selection. They take on the Rising Pune Supergiant who have been in sensational form of late and will attempt to play spoilsport to the latter’s chances of securing a top two finish.
Let’s take a look at how DD could line-up.
Openers
Sanju Samson
He started off IPL 10 with a bang; Samson became the first batsman this season to score a century and followed that up with a few more good performances with the bat. However, he lost his spark over the past couple of matches despite being the highest run-getter for the side. He will look to give his all in DD’s second last match of the season.
Karun Nair
His poor form continued with the bat in the IPL. He has hardly been able to contribute aside from a 20 ball 39 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Nair will be eager to put on a good show in order to stake his claim for a spot in the national team.
Middle Order
Rishabh Pant
Pant was dismissed for only 4 runs in the previous match, and a duck in the game before that. However, he did show everyone what he was capable of with a superb 43 ball 97 against the Sunrisers. The gritty youngster would look to sign off on a high this season and impress the Indian selectors.
Shreyas Iyer
The youngster missed the first few matches due to an injury but has provided some stability in the middle order since his return to the side. In the last game against Gujarat, he notched up a match-winning 97 to prove his mettle and will want to carry that form into the final two games.
Marlon Samuels
Samuels joined the franchise only a couple of weeks ago and featured in three games without making any sort of impact with the bat or the ball. But his T20 credentials are known to all and he will be looking to put in at least one good performance before he heads back to the West Indies.
All-rounders
Corey Anderson
Anderson has become a permanent fixture in the side with a few good all-round performances. His blistering 41 against the Sunrisers has been his most prominent contribution so far but he has gone off the boil in the last couple of matches.
Carlos Brathwaite
Given the absence of Morris and Rababa, the franchise had no other option than to pick Braithwaite on the side. His 1/38 with the ball and 11 runs with the bat against Gujarat were not of much help but he will look to get back to his fearless best for the final matches of the Daredevils campaign. If Brathwaite gets going with the bat, no total is safe.
Bowlers
Pat Cummins
He had a performance to forget in Delhi’s encounter against Mumbai as he leaked 59 runs in his 4 overs. But he redeemed himself to some extent as he contributed 24 runs with the bat against Gujarat and took 1 wicket. Aside from the Mumbai game, Cummins has been quite economical.
Zaheer Khan
It has been vintage Zaheer on show for the most part in this tournament. Whilst he has not been amongst the wickets too often, he has been lauded for his captaincy by a lot of former cricketers despite Delhi finishing near the bottom of the table. It will be up to Zaheer to keep Pune’s strong batting line-up in check.
Amit Mishra
Mishra has been inconsistent throughout the tournament. He was taken to the cleaners by the Mumbai batsmen but responded well against Gujarat Lions picking up 1/21 and scoring a handy 8 with the bat.
Mohammad Shami
Shami has been quite impressive in the few matches he has played for DD so far. He will look to give it his all ahead of the Champions Trophy in order to regain some form before featuring in his first ODI since the 2015 World Cup.
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