Delhi Daredevils and the Gujarat Lions have been brilliant in IPL 2016, and they will now be keen to come up with another impressive performance when they square off at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday. DD and GL have only lost one match each in IPL 2016.
Gujarat Lions come into this game with an impressive win over Royal Challengers Bangalore as their batsmen flourished, helping them chase RCB's score of 180 runs. The GL have a solid batting lineup with players like Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik being their star batsmen. Dwayne Smith, who played his first match in IPL 2016, also batted beautifully against RCB, which should help him retain his place at the top of the order.
However, Aaron Finch's participation is not yet sure for the match owing to an injured hamstring. The Australia batsmen did not even bat for the Lions during the win over RCB. If Finch has to sit out, James Faulkner might get a chance to play.
Though Faulkner might not be a like-for-like replacement, his all-round skills could come in handy for the Gujarat Lions. Besides this forced change, GL may not make any other changes from the team that played against RCB. The same set of bowlers, including Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shabad Jakati and Pravin Tambe should be in the playing XI.
Delhi Daredevils, who have won three matches on the trot, might not make any changes as well. They have a solid batting lineup. With Quinton de Kock, the first centurion in IPL 2016, Sanju Samson, JP Duminy and Karun Nair, they have the batsmen to play as per the situation demands.
With the pitch in Delhi known to assist the slower bowlers, it is at this juncture where Delhi Daredevils might have a huge edge over Gujarat Lions. The Delhi Daredevils comprise of brilliant legspinners – Imran Tahir and Amit Mishra. The duo not only contains runs, but also takes wickets during the middle overs, and in Zaheer Khan and Mohammed Shami, they have pacers, who knows Indian conditions well.
Expected playing XI: Delhi Daredevils: Quinton de Kock (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, JP Duminy, Karun Nair, Pawan Negi, Chris Morris, Imran Tahir, Mohammed Shami, Zaheer Khan (C), Amit Mishra
Gujarat Lions: Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina (C ), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Shadab Jakati, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pravin Tambe.
