The time which we all have been waiting for a long time has finally arrived, Eden Gardens,Kolkata is ready to witness the first match of IPL 2013. Its a big one as Daredevils face Knight Riders on the 3rd of April.Virender Sewag will play against a team headed by his long time opening partner in the Indian Team, Gautam Gambhir. Surely a mouth watering contest to kick off the IPL season.
DELHI DAREDEVILS Chunks in the armour:
With Pepsi taking over the Title sponsorship from DLF for a whopping amount of 400 crore for a duration of 5 years,Delhi Daredevils will be looking forward for change in their fortunes.Over the years Delhi Daredevils have come into the Qualifiers many times but have failed to somehow drag it to the finals everytime.On paper Delhi always looks a good mix of both young and experienced players.As South Africa is to International Cricket, Delhi Daredevils is to IPL.Both teams choke when it matters the most.This is why fans offen term them as "CHOKERS".With 2 of its mainstream players,Kevin Pietersen and Jesse Ryder out for the whole season due to injuries,The Delhi Daredevils will look upon Sehwag,Jayawardene and Under 19 World Cup Winning Captain Unmukt Chand for some inspiration to the inexperienced batting lot.The pace battery will be once again led by Morne Morkel who earned the Purple Cap last time around for the highest number of wickets last season.The team will look upon Irfan Pathan to deliver both with the bat and ball.Ajit Agarkar's experience might come in handy for the devils.The spin department consists of youngsters nadeem and negi both getting some light last season but couldnt make it big due to insufficient number of chances.The allround skills of van der merwe and Johan Botha will certainly help Delhi achieve their Title dream.In the past seasons Delhi Daredevils has been a perfect platform for young cricketers to earn their wings. Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron being few of them.
Kolkata Knight Riders Chunks in the armour:
An allrounder’s team with 6 well established allrounders in the squad. The list includes Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Shakib Al Hasan, Rajat Bhatia and Laxmi Get ready to witness Diwali being Celebrated Again On Sony Max on 3rd AprilRatan Shukla.After first three seasons Gautam Gambhir’s captaincy has been the inspiration behind their change in fortunes. He is one of the most consistent performers of IPL. He can play as a hard hitting opener or even as a batsman who needs to stabilize an inning. Under the guidance of Brett Lee, the Knight Riders have a variety in their bowling attack. Kolkata’s bowling attack will be spearheaded by Brett Lee himself and the variety will be added by James Pattinson, Sunil Narine, Iqbal Abdulla, Shakib Al Hasan, Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan and Lakshmipathy Balaji.KKR will look forward for a good start by their top order batsmen Gautam Gambhir,Kallis,Tiwary etc.
Preview Summary:
This match will certainly be under the scanner of the Indian selectors as this match might be a gateway to a comeback into the Indian side for players like Sehwag,Gambhir,Irfan Pathan and Yousuf Pathan. We can expect Sehwag to come out to bat without his spectacles on as he did not wear them in te recently concluded Domestic t20 tournament in which he fared poorly.So tune in at 8 PM ON 3rd April to see Diwali being celebrated again!!
