After the smashing IPL 2018 opener between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, Mohali is all set to host the second match of the season. The match will witness Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab lock horns for the first time in the tournament. The most interesting part of this match is that both the teams have never won the title in the last decade so it would be interesting to watch who takes the lead in the tournament.

Both the teams have new captains. Gautam Gambhir, who earlier played for the Kolkata Knight Riders will lead the side. R Ashwin is the captain of the Kings XI Punjab and happens to be the 11th skipper of the team. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the will forget the past and put their best foot forward as the teams are revamped and the captains are new.

Strengths of DD & KXIP

The top order looks safe with names like Chris Gayle and Yuvraj Singh and with David Miller in the middle-order scoring runs on batting friendly wickets would get easier. Yuvraj Singh and Chris Gayle can also come handy as spinners for the squad which is an added advantage for the KXIP. Also the team has good economical spinners which can turn the game around.

Delhi Daredevils also has a great opening line up with Gautam Gambhir, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer. Also, they are quite strong when it comes to the pacers with people like Mohammed Shami, Trent Boult and Chris Morris which could rip apart the strongest of the batting line-up. Also Nepali spinner Sandeep Lamichhane will be an additional support to the team when it comes to the spin department.

Weakness of DD & KXIP

DD looks weak when it comes to the middle order. Pant, Glen Maxwell, and Iyer have to be reliable  at the middle-order. Also, Kagiso Rabada’s injury could prove to be a massive blow for the side.

Kings XI Punjab, on the other hand, looks weak when it comes to the pace battery. They Barinder Sran and Mohit Sharma are not as experienced and could get nightmare while having to face world class batsmen. Also, the could have a tough time picking a wicket-keeper for the side as both KL Rahul and Akshdeep Nath have not been tested. However going by the previous games, KL Rahul is more often seen making misses behind the stumps.

Probable XI’s

KXIP: Chris Gayle, KL Rahul (WK), Mayank Aggarwal, Yuvraj Singh, David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin (C), Barinder Sran, Mohit Sharma, Andrew Tye

Delhi Daredevils: Gautam Gambhir, Colin Munro, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Dan Christian, Chris Morris, Abhishek Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Trent Boult

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 07, 2018 06:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).