Injury-hit Delhi Capitals face uphill challenge against high-flying CSK

Delhi Capitals (DC) vs Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Visakhapatnam, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)

MS Dhoni, with his shoulder-length hair, returns to the scene of his first big innings from way back in 2005. Almost 20 years ago, Sourav Ganguly promoted Dhoni to No.3, ahead of himself, and the rest is history. Ganguly is now the director of cricket in the opposition camp as Delhi Capitals look to stop Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings from making it three wins in a row.

CSK's batting has so much depth and power that they haven't needed Dhoni to bat. Though Rishabh Pant has had a promising start in his comeback, and David Warner has had breezy starts, the top-heavy Capitals don't have as much batting depth. Their bowling attack isn't in healthy shape either, with Ishant Sharma injured and both Anrich Nortje and Jhye Richardson on a comeback trail from injury. Shai Hope has also joined the injury list and missed their last game.

Capitals will also have to adjust to the conditions in Visakhapatnam, where they will play back-to-back games on March 31 against CSK and on April 3 against Kolkata Knight Riders. Capitals had picked Visakhapatnam to host their first two home games to allow the Delhi venue time to recover, according to their co-owner Parth Jindal. Capitals have lost three of the five IPL games they've played in Visakhapatnam, including a defeat to CSK in the second qualifier in IPL 2019.

In IPL 2023, Capitals had started with five successive defeats and soon reached a point of no return. They will be hoping to remedy that and hit the ground running from Sunday, having already lost their first two.

At his pre-match press conference, Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting indicated that Prithvi Shaw is "pushing for selection". He also suggested that offspin-bowling allrounder Lalit Yadav could come into the team to counter CSK's left-handers. Australia quick Jhye Richardson is also available for selection. If Capitals bat first, Abishek Porel could start as a specialist batter, with Lalit replacing him as an Impact Player in the second innings. It could be vice-versa if the Capitals bowl first.

Probable XII: 1 David Warner, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Ricky Bhui/Prithvi Shaw, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 Abishek Porel, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Mukesh Kumar, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Khaleel Ahmed, 12 Lalit Yadav

CSK have found a way to fit both Matheesha Pathirana and Mustafizur Rahman into their XI or XII. One of them should make way for Dube as an Impact Player when they bat.

Probable XII: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Shivam Dube, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Sameer Rizvi, 8 MS Dhoni (wk), 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Matheesha Pathirana, 12 Mustafizur Rahman

In the spotlight

Rishabh Pant has passed the wicketkeeping test and is working his way back with the bat. He got starts against both Punjab Kings and Royals, and has a strong record against CSK in the IPL: 324 runs in ten innings at a strike rate of 156.52. If Pant can get a few big hits away, he could potentially keep Ravindra Jadeja and other left-arm fingerspinners out of the attack. There is a case for Axar Patel to be promoted up the order as well to disrupt CSK's left-arm fingerspinners.

Daryl Mitchell will meet Kuldeep Yadav once again after having taken him for 72 off 56 balls across two innings in the ODI World Cup. Mitchell's ability to pump the ball down the ground off different lengths and play the reverse-sweep makes him a dangerous proposition against spin. He can also pitch in with some cutters like he showed against Gujarat Titans on Tuesday.

Stats that matter

Pitch and conditions

Eric Simons, CSK's bowling consultant, said that there was a "decent" covering of grass on the pitch, on the eve of the game. There could also be some early swing on offer for the seamers. The excessive heat and humidity in Visakhapatnam might challenge the fitness of the players.

Quotes

"We go on the road now for a couple of games against Delhi and Sunrisers Hyderabad and it's always a challenge playing away from home in different conditions that we're not used to. So, I think it will be a great challenge for the team."
Michael Hussey, CSK batting coach

"We're very confident that we will be able to turn things around. It's against a good CSK team but we know our best cricket is going to be good enough against anybody."
Ricky Ponting, Delhi Capitals head coach