KL Rahul-led Kings XI Punjab will kickstart their campaign in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday when they square off with the Shreyas Iyer-led Delhi Capitals in the second match of the cash-rich league at the Dubai International Stadium.
Both sides have failed to clinch the coveted trophy in the last twelve seasons and the two teams will now be determined to lift their maiden title heading into the 13th season of the lucrative T20 tournament.
In fact, the two sides have managed to make it to the knock-out stages only once in the last seven years of the IPL, with Kings XI Punjab slumping to defeat in the summit showdown of 2014 edition and Delhi Capitals reaching the second qualifier last year.
The Delhi-based team are a much improved unit and they have shown their capabilities by making it to the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons in 2019. Heading into this year's IPL, they will look to come up with a much more better performance with number of young players in the squad this time aound.
Going into the clash, Kings XI Punjab hold a slight advantage over the Delhi-based franchise as far as head-to-head record is concerned.
The two sides have faced each other in a total of 24 matches in the IPL, with Kings XI winning 14 of them and Delhi Capitals emerging victorious on 10 occasions.
In December 2019, the Shreyas Iyer-led side bought eight new players at the 2020 IPL Player's Auction and spent Rs 18.85 crore in total, with the most expensive cricketer being West Indies' Shimron Hetmyer for Rs 7.75 crore.
At the IPL Player's Auction in Kolkata in December last year, the Punjab-based franchise spent a total of Rs 26.20 crore to purchase nine players.Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has made his way back into the King XI Punjab squad after being bought by the franchise for a whopping Rs 10.75 crore.
Delhi Capitals vs Kings XI Punjab, Dream11 team prediction:
Wicketkeeper: Rishabh Pant
Batsmen: Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw
All-rounders: Glenn Maxwell, Ravichandran Ashwin
Bowlers: Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Krishnappa Gowtham
Probable Playing XIs:
Delhi Capitals Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Shimron Hetmyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Sandeep Lamichhane, Harshal Patel
Kings XI Punjab Probable XI: Chris Gayle, KL Rahul (c and wk), Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, Glenn Maxwell, Mandeep Singh, Krishnappa Gowtham, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Chris Jordan, Ravi Bishnoi
The two squads are as follows:
Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan Rishabh Pant (Wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Alex Carey, Kagiso Rabada, Shimron Hetmyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Keemo Paul, Mohit Sharma, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes, Tushar Deshpande, Daniel Sams
Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul (Captain & Wicketkeeper), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, James Neesham, Chris Jordan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Karun Nair, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Sheldon Cottrell, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Arshdeep Singh, Hardus Viljoen, M Ashwin, J Suchith, Harpreet Brar, Darshan Nalkande, Deepak Hooda, Tajinder Singh Dhillon, Prabhsimran Singh.
The match will begin at 7.30 p.m IST and it will take place in the absence of fans amid COVID-19 pandemic.The clash will be telecast on Star Sports Network, while the live streaming of the matches will also be available on Star’s streaming application Hotstar.
