IPL 6: DD vs PWI - Pune Warriors India Preview

As the IPL carnival now moves onto the state of Chhattisgarh for today’s encounter between Delhi Daredevils and Pune Warriors, fans in Raipur are going to be treated to their first-ever match in the IPL. Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur is a newly-built stadium, with modern world-class facilities, having a capacity of around 65000. The stadium will host its first ever IPL match today and is officially Delhi’s home ground for two matches including the one today. But citing the poor form of both the teams, it’s hard to say which team the fans will turn out to support.

Pune Warriors India have a lot of things to ponder over, as their lacklustre IPL form has haunted them this year too. They must be still recovering from the ‘Gaylestorm’ in their last match against RCB at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. Chris Gayle smashed their hapless bowlers all over the stadium to pile up a record-breaking 175* off just 66 balls. All the Pune Warriors batsmen combined scored some 40-odd runs lesser than Gayle’s individual score in their last match. This gives us a fair idea of where the blues stand now.

A Pune batting line-up comprising the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Aaron Finch, Robin Uthappa, Steve Smith and Luke Wright looks quite formidable on paper, but their inconsistent form and inability to deliver at the the right times have cost them dearly in all their previous matches. It’s about time for a stalwart like Yuvraj Singh to stand up and show the world how destructive he can be. Aaron Finch has been scoring quick runs at the top for them so far. Steve Smith and Luke Wright are very capable of finishing the innings with a flourish. They all need to step up today against a formidable Delhi bowling line-up consisting of Umesh Yadav, Rudolph van der Merwe, Irfan Pathan and Johan Botha.

The Pune Warriors bowlers had to hide beneath the clouds resulting from the Gayle-storm, and must have dented their confidence levels tremendously. With Delhi having the likes of Virender Sehwag, Mahela Jayawardene and David Warner in their ranks, there will be no respite for the Pune bowlers as these batsmen are hugely capable of repeating, to a certain degree, what Gayle did to them. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been reasonably good with his economical bowling; but barring him, Pune coach Allan Donald is running out of ideas on how to make his bowlers click. Ashok Dinda and Ishwar Pandey have not been able to deliver so far with their inconsistent bowling proving very expensive. Dinda should get over his short-pitched stuff now and look to hit the shoes of the batsmen more in the future. Luke Wright and Rahul Sharma also have to tighten their lines to restrict the fearsome Delhi batting.

Pune are languishing in the 8th spot on the points table with just 2 wins so far in this season, followed by Delhi Daredevils at 9th spot, with just a single win against Mumbai Indians.

Conditions:

The stadium is hosting it’s first-ever IPL game, which puts us in completely unknown territory about the conditions here. However, with a capacity of 65000 and the fact that the IPL is going to the city of Raipur for the first time, the stands are expected to be full.

Head to Head:

According to head-to-head records, Pune have a slight disadvantage over Delhi winning 1 out of the the 4 games played between them combining all the seasons. Delhi Daredevils won 2 games with one ending without a result.

Key Players:

Aaron Finch- He has been consistent with some of his quick-fire knocks at the top and is expected to provide a good start today as well. Apart from that, being the captain of the side, he has to manage his resources very well today.

Steve Smith- This Australian all-rounder has performed very well for Pune in the past. He is expected to provide some momentum for them in the middle and finish the innings on a high. He is a stunning fielder as well, which adds to his value in the team.

PWI’s strategy:

Considering the unknown conditions at the new stadium, it would be wise for them to win the toss and bowl first. This could test the Delhi batsmen because they won’t be sure of how exactly the pitch will play. But their bowling woes in the last game might provoke them to bat first as well.

Possible XI:

They are likely to field a side with one or two changes today after their shameful defeat in the last game. Rahul Sharma might replace Mortaza if he is fit. The rest of the team is expected to remain the same.

Robin Uthappa, Aaron Finch(c), Yuvraj Singh, Luke Wright, Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Mithun Manhas/ A Nayar, Ishwar Pandey/ Ali Mortaza, Rahul Sharma, Ashok Dinda and Bhuvneshawar Kumar