IPL 2016 started off with a brilliant game of cricket between defending champions Mumbai Indians and new franchise Rising Pune Supergiants. Now it is time for two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to lock horns Sunday with a revamped Delhi Daredevils (DD) side at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
This is going to be a very interesting encounter, as both teams are pretty balanced. Both have enough ammunition in their ranks to turn this into a fierce battle.
But the Knights will be having the home advantage and the support of their 65,000 fans. Will Zaheer Khan-led Daredevils be able to withstand the pressure and emerge victorious at the Eden Gardens? We will have to wait and watch.
For the time being, let us take a look at some of the players from both sides who can make a difference:
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Robin Uthappa: Uthappa has been one of the best batsmen in this KKR squad and thus the management did not hesitate to retain the right-handed batsman. In 2014, he was one of the prime architects of KKR's title-winning season. He could not make much of an impact last year. His presence at the top of the order is likely to be felt this year as he had a good domestic season with the bat. His equation with KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir at the top of the order is very good and he will be looking to gain from it in IPL 2016. He is one of the cleanest strikers of the ball and surely one of the players to watch out for.
Brad Hogg: The 44-year-old chinaman bowler is going to fill the shoes of Sunil Narine as the latter will not be available for selection until Wednesday. His googlies are one of the hardest to pick on the ground and he is back again to trouble the best batsmen across the globe in IPL 2016. This probably will be his last season and he will be looking forward to having a great one with the Knights in IPL 2016.
Delhi Daredevils:
Shreyas Iyer: The swashbuckling right-handed opening batsman scored plenty of runs for Delhi Daredevils in the last season. But unfortunately, the Delhi outfit still finished at the seventh spot in the IPL points table. Iyer was the best batsman in the last domestic season and he will look to emulate his batting heroics in IPL 2016 for the Daredevils. He can score very quickly at the top of the order and give the Daredevils the kind of starts they are looking to get in this season of the IPL.
Carlos Brathwaite: The West Indian all-rounder is all set to make his IPL debut for the Delhi Daredevils. The management fought out hard with KKR during the IPL 2016 players' auction to bag Brathwaite for a whopping Rs 4.5 crore. Little did the people around the globe know about this wonder kid then. But now he is in the limelight after his match-winning performance in the ICC World T20 2016 final. He is a handy medium-pacer as he has the knack of picking up wickets when needed and he is also an attacking batsman in the middle-order. His presence in the Daredevils' line-up will make a difference in the IPL 2016: That is what the fans will hope.
