Delhi Capitals (DC) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) are beginning their journey in the IPL 2020 with this match where they are facing each other at Dubai International Cricket Stadium (Dubai).
Both these teams are ready to begin their IPL 2020 journey with the hope of their maiden IPL trophy winning at the end of this season. Delhi Capitals are the only team among the existing IPL teams who have never played an IPL final as their best record is finishing as the third-best team in three IPL seasons (2009, 2012 and 2019). However, in the last season, the Delhi franchise finally showed some strong character after a long time and many believe that they are one of the must-watch teams in this season.
On the other hand, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) have played one IPL final in the 2014 season where Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won their second IPL title after beating the Punjab franchise. Since then, they haven’t reached in the IPL playoffs, mostly due to their inconsistent performances in every season. However, they are now desperate to achieve success in the IPL 2020.
Ahead of their tournament opener, Delhi Capitals have received a major blow as the experienced Indian tall right-arm pacer Ishant Sharma has been ruled out from this game due to a back injury during a practice session on yesterday.
On the other, it is the first IPL match for KL Rahul as a captain as he is the new leader of the KXIP.
Last time, Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab faced each other during the 37th game of the IPL 2019 (20th April 2019) at Delhi where the host side Capitals beat KXIP by five wickets (with 2 balls remaining).
IPL 2020, Match 2: Delhi Capitals (DC) vs Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) – Toss Report
KXIP captain KL Rahul won the toss and decided to bowl first. It is his first match as a captain in IPL career and what a lucky start.
After winning the toss, Rahul said, “We will bowl first. Fresh wicket, don’t really know what to expect. I’m confident and so is the entire team, great opportunity to go out and play some cricket. Staying indoors was difficult, but it also gave us time to think about our strategy, Maxwell, Pooran, Jordan and Cottrell are our four overseas players.”
Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer would also like to bowl first if he won the toss.
Iyer said after the toss, “We would have bowled first as well. I have learnt to take some responsibility, with the likes of Ponting and Ganguly, it makes my task a bit easier. Looking forward to a great season – We have plenty of options and it was difficult settling for the best XI – Hetmyer, Rabada, Stoinis and Nortje make our four overseas players.”
IPL 2020, Match 2: DC vs KXIP – Playing XIs
Delhi Capitals (DC): Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer (C), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Mohit Sharma
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP): KL Rahul (C/wk), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Sarfaraz Khan, Glenn Maxwell, Nicholas Pooran, Krishnappa Gowtham, Chris Jordan, Sheldon Cottrell, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami