The times are tough for everybody currently, but as a welcome distraction, we can now shift our focus to a place where the grass is quite literally greener – the VIVO IPL! India’s most-loved festival is back in India and we could not have asked for a better way to kick things off than to face the Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede!
The Chennai franchise has been one of the most successful and consistent teams in the competition, with an overall win percentage of 65.22%. However, the roars were louder than the whistles last year, as we completed a double over the Men in Yellow in memorable encounters with the likes of Dhawan and Axar performing heroics.
The return of Sam Billings and Umesh Yadav to Delhi and the addition of players like Steve Smith, Tom Curran and Chris Woakes has only bolstered an already strong unit, and they’ll be raring to start things off with a statement.
A Captaincy Déjà vu
It’s not the first time we have a 23-year-old prodigy captaining our side, is it? Shreyas Iyer took over the reins at a similar age and did a magnificent job of it over the last couple of years. Unfortunately, the man who took us to our first ever final has been ruled out for the season, and the talk of the cricketing world, Rishabh Pant takes his spot as skipper. He’s all set to become the 5th youngest captain in the IPL when he steps out on the field against his mentor, MS Dhoni.
Stat Attack
Shikhar Dhawan will have his eyes set on the boundary ropes against CSK as he is just 9 fours away from becoming the 1st player in the history of the tournament to hit 600 fours. On the other hand, Ajinkya Rahane is 67 runs away from making 4000 runs in the IPL. He'll be just the 11th batsman to reach this landmark, an excellent achievement to add to his resume!
Pant has been a menace to CSK wielding his willow with ferocity. He has scored 222 runs with a strike rate of 164.02, the fourth-best by a batsman against CSK. He will have more edge in his first match as a captain because the game is at Wankhede, a ground where he has a strike rate of 227.27, which is the best by a batsman at any venue in IPL, with minimum of three innings played.
In the bowling department, our spinners have had the better of CSK batsmen in the past. The experienced Amit Mishra has got the better of Uthappa, Raina and Jadeja four times each in past encounters. Ravichandran Ashwin has been a nightmare to Uthappa in particular, having dismissed him six times.
Twitter Chatter
I'm (also) excited that my first match as captain is against Mahi bhai's team... 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧t 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐦 (𝐃𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢)." - Rishabh Pant
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 6, 2021
Kiska mantra kaam aayega? 🤔#VIVOIPL #CSKvDC #IndiaKaApnaMantra pic.twitter.com/7vIem9vVGo
Yeh toh match ke baad hi pata chalega 😉
Waiting For This Incredible moment ...✌🥇🤜🤛🕢#IPL https://t.co/g5dSz4Kfjw
— Amit (@i_amitt007) April 4, 2021
The wait is almost over 💙💛
I love to watch @RishabhPant17 ❤️ as a captain I hope he'll do well
— cheetah (@aimcheetah) April 3, 2021
Ye dilli te tu Roar u macha
Fingers crossed 🤞🏻
Key Battles
Ajinkya Rahane & Prithvi Shaw vs Deepak Chahar
Deepak Chahar has got the best of both players 4 times in the competition with his effective swing. But, they’ve been in good touch and it wouldn’t come as any surprise if these two put up a show on the day.
Robin Uthappa vs Ravichandran Ashwin
It’s been one-way traffic in this battle. The ‘Master’ has gotten the better of Robin 6 times - the most number of times he’s dismissed any player in the IPL. Hopefully, there will be no more traffic from the other side in our opening fixture.
Marcus Stoinis vs Sam Curran
The two all-rounders have been absolutely vital to their teams in the past, and all the runs they score and the wickets they take will have a huge bearing on the eventual result of the match.
It’s been a long wait for the VIVO IPL to come back to India, and the DC stars will give it their absolute all in the first game of the season to leave their fans smiling.
P.S. If it’s going to be half as thrilling as our last season opener against Punjab, we’re in for a real treat.
The times are tough for everybody currently, but as a welcome distraction, we can now shift our focus to a place where the grass is quite literally greener – the VIVO IPL! India’s most-loved festival is back in India and we could not have asked for a better way to kick things off than to face the Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede!
The Chennai franchise has been one of the most successful and consistent teams in the competition, with an overall win percentage of 65.22%. However, the roars were louder than the whistles last year, as we completed a double over the Men in Yellow in memorable encounters with the likes of Dhawan and Axar performing heroics.
The return of Sam Billings and Umesh Yadav to Delhi and the addition of players like Steve Smith, Tom Curran and Chris Woakes has only bolstered an already strong unit, and they’ll be raring to start things off with a statement.
A Captaincy Déjà vu
It’s not the first time we have a 23-year-old prodigy captaining our side, is it? Shreyas Iyer took over the reins at a similar age and did a magnificent job of it over the last couple of years. Unfortunately, the man who took us to our first ever final has been ruled out for the season, and the talk of the cricketing world, Rishabh Pant takes his spot as skipper. He’s all set to become the 5th youngest captain in the IPL when he steps out on the field against his mentor, MS Dhoni.
Stat Attack
Shikhar Dhawan will have his eyes set on the boundary ropes against CSK as he is just 9 fours away from becoming the 1st player in the history of the tournament to hit 600 fours. On the other hand, Ajinkya Rahane is 67 runs away from making 4000 runs in the IPL. He'll be just the 11th batsman to reach this landmark, an excellent achievement to add to his resume!
Pant has been a menace to CSK wielding his willow with ferocity. He has scored 222 runs with a strike rate of 164.02, the fourth-best by a batsman against CSK. He will have more edge in his first match as a captain because the game is at Wankhede, a ground where he has a strike rate of 227.27, which is the best by a batsman at any venue in IPL, with minimum of three innings played.
In the bowling department, our spinners have had the better of CSK batsmen in the past. The experienced Amit Mishra has got the better of Uthappa, Raina and Jadeja four times each in past encounters. Ravichandran Ashwin has been a nightmare to Uthappa in particular, having dismissed him six times.
Twitter Chatter
I'm (also) excited that my first match as captain is against Mahi bhai's team... 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧t 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐦 (𝐃𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢)." - Rishabh Pant
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 6, 2021
Kiska mantra kaam aayega? 🤔#VIVOIPL #CSKvDC #IndiaKaApnaMantra pic.twitter.com/7vIem9vVGo
Yeh toh match ke baad hi pata chalega 😉
Waiting For This Incredible moment ...✌🥇🤜🤛🕢#IPL https://t.co/g5dSz4Kfjw
— Amit (@i_amitt007) April 4, 2021
The wait is almost over 💙💛
I love to watch @RishabhPant17 ❤️ as a captain I hope he'll do well
— cheetah (@aimcheetah) April 3, 2021
Ye dilli te tu Roar u macha
Fingers crossed 🤞🏻
Key Battles
Ajinkya Rahane & Prithvi Shaw vs Deepak Chahar
Deepak Chahar has got the best of both players 4 times in the competition with his effective swing. But, they’ve been in good touch and it wouldn’t come as any surprise if these two put up a show on the day.
Robin Uthappa vs Ravichandran Ashwin
It’s been one-way traffic in this battle. The ‘Master’ has gotten the better of Robin 6 times - the most number of times he’s dismissed any player in the IPL. Hopefully, there will be no more traffic from the other side in our opening fixture.
Marcus Stoinis vs Sam Curran
The two all-rounders have been absolutely vital to their teams in the past, and all the runs they score and the wickets they take will have a huge bearing on the eventual result of the match.
It’s been a long wait for the VIVO IPL to come back to India, and the DC stars will give it their absolute all in the first game of the season to leave their fans smiling.
P.S. If it’s going to be half as thrilling as our last season opener against Punjab, we’re in for a real treat.
