IPL 2018, DD vs KXIP: 3 Unnoticed things of the match

Match two of IPL 2018 didn’t turn out to be as nail-biting as previous one but nevertheless turned out to be worthy captaincy debut for Ravichandran Ashwin thanks to the record-breaking half-century from KL Rahul.

Sportskeeda takes a look at the five unnoticed things from the match which had a considerable effect on the end result of the game for both sides.

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#1 Playing Mujeeb ahead of Gayle

Ravichandran Ashwin started off his captaincy debut with a commendable strategic move by not playing Chris Gayle who would have been in everyone’s fantasy team and playing Afghani leg-spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman.

Ashwin trusted him with powerplay overs and he repaid his captain’s faith by removing dangerous Colin Munro and came back at the back end of the innings and picked the crucial wicket of Rishabh Pant who played an aggressive inning of 28.

Rahman’s contribution didn’t just stop with the bowling, his bull’s eye throw to the stumps caught Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir short of the crease who almost played through the innings and top scored for his team. He finished with the match figures of 4-0-28-2.

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#2 Too late to make an impact: Sending big hitters down the order

Delhi missed a trick by holding back their power hitters

Delhi Daredevils didn’t learn from the mistakes committed by Mumbai Indians yesterday with Pollard and sent their power hitters late in the innings.

The idea behind sending a rookie Rahul Tewatia was understandable but in a flat pitch where sixes and fours is the need of the hour.

He couldn't do much justice and delayed the introduction of power hitters in the form of Daniel Christian and Chris Morris who did their best to reach the score to parity but in the end it was not enough to trouble Punjab batters.

#3 Struggling Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj struggled in the middle today

Having sidelined by the national team, Yuvraj Singh had much to prove in this edition of IPL but it didn’t turn out as he expected and struggled to middle the ball throughout which lasted 22 balls.

Gambhir was smart enough to introduce pacers to unsettle him at the beginning of his innings and from then on, he struggling to rotate strike and in the end, succumbed to rookie leg-spinner Rahul Tewatia for paltry 12 runs.

It didn’t cost his team many thanks to KL Rahul heroics but upcoming matches is crucial for him to prove his pedigree.