The Delhi Capitals will certainly be going in as favourites in their second home game of the season when they face Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.
While the Capitals have won both their matches so far against Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians, the Titans lost to Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals to languish in the bottom half of the table.
In these circumstances, the Capitals are in with a decent chance to register their third win on the trot.
What also keeps the Axar Patel-led side in front is the calmness and composure they exhibited in the face of pressure from Lucknow and Mumbai in their earlier matches. And the man who has led from the front to bail them out of woods is young Sameer Rizvi.
Hitting back-to-back match-winning half-centuries, Rizvi underlined the improvement his game has undergone, especially his wrist work to unleash the big strokes.
Both teams, though, will keep an eye on the weather as there’s forecast of rain in Delhi on Wednesday.
The pitch, to remain under covers, will be having some extra moisture to assist the pacers at least during the initial stages of the game.
That should make the contest even more interesting, especially when Rizvi faces Titans’ ace quick Kagiso Rabada and more so, if the Capitals bat first.
It will be a test for senior pro KL Rahul as well.
Gill return
The Titans, however, have some reason to feel upbeat as their regular captain Shubman Gill may return to the XI.
Gill missed their last game due to a muscle spasm. His comeback should bolster the Titans’ batting a little bit against the Capitals’ bowling, which has been quite penetrative so far in this IPL.
The likes of Lungi Ngidi, T. Natarajan, Axar, Kuldeep Yadav and even Mukesh Kumar haven’t been easy to put away so far. Gill, with his overall quality with the bat, does have the ability to combat them.
His return would also take a bit of pressure off opening partner Sai Sudharsan.