The third edition of the Hockey India League has been a big disappointment for two teams in the competition, Delhi Waveriders and Dabaang Mumbai.
Mumbai has not won a single game in the competition, while the record holds same for Delhi as well. They both lie at the bottom half of the table, which includes eight teams.
They have played three games each and have only two draws to show for their positive result.
Both these teams are going to clash against one another later in the evening at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi with the hope of winning their first game.
The Waveriders would be well supported by the locals.
Despite not being able to hit the ground, Waveriders are confident of making a comeback in the tournament.
"This is an important game for us. We have worked on our plans and bettered it for the upcoming matches. The team has also worked on its defence and I am sure we will make a comeback in the next match," Waveriders' coach, D'Souza said, as quoted by IANS.
However, if Delhi are to defeat Mumbai, they have to do so without the services of their skipper Sardar Singh. He was suspended for one game due to "inappropriate physical contact with the opponent player" when they played against Jaypee Punjab Warriors.
"The incident involved Sardar Singh's inappropriate physical contact with the opponent player which clearly breached the HIL Code of Conduct. The incident was proved by the video footage as well as Sardar Singh accepting the breach on the field. HIL disciplinary committee has suspended Sardar Singh for one match. He will not play the match against Dabang Mumbai scheduled to be played February 1 in New Delhi," said an HIL statement.
In Mumbai's last game against Ranchi, they looked better as they managed a single point with the help of a 2-2 score line.
Hence, Mumbai can take some confidence from their last game when they drew 2-2 with Ranchi, while Delhi lost their last game against Jaypee Punjab Warriors, who presently leads the table with 17 points.
Mumbai coach Valentin Altenburg said, "I'm very satisfied on how the whole team works on their action goals. The game against Ranchi was a step in the right direction."
"Tomorrow we will take the next step. We will play the Dabang style with heart for 60 minutes and then we will see what is on the scoreboard."
Where to Watch Live
The match can been watched live on TV in Star Sports 2 with HIL Pre Show from 4:45pm with the game scheduled tp start at 5pm, while live streaming is also available on the star sports official website.
