New Delhi, October 09: Struggling with three pull-outs within one week, strong contenders Delhi Daredevils would seek to capitalise on the experience of legendary Australian paceman Glenn McGrath when they take on Victoria in their opening Champions League Twenty20 match on Friday.
Delhi have lost three overseas players – South African AB de Villers, England’s Paul Collingwood and Daniel Vettori of New Zealand – in quick succession on the run-up to the cash-rich 12-team event.
However, captain Gautam Gambhir was not a worried man before the campaign opener and exuded confidence about producing good results in the tournament.
“I can assure the supporters that the Delhi team would leave no stone unturned to put up a good performance in the tournament,” Gambhir said.
McGrath, who replaced Collingwood, and Australian paceman Dirk Nannes could forge a lethal pair, which has the ability to inflict early blows and break the backbone of opponent line-ups.
In the absence of experienced Vettori, Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra would be a key member of Delhi’s bowling armoury, while Rajat Bhatia’s medium pace may help Delhi get some breakthroughs.
Gambhir would be the mainstay of the batting order, while their performance would depend on how the others like Ranji Trophy regulars Bhatia and Mithun Manhas chip in with their bats.
On the other hand, Australian side Victoria’s batting order boasts of Brad Hodge, David Hussey and Cameron White – all of whom would draw from their IPL experience.
Paceman Peter Siddle might be the man on whom skipper White would depend highly as the other Victoria bowlers lack the experience of often placid sub-continent pitch.
Lack of experience on Victoria’s part is something Gambhir would like to capitalise on in order to get off to a winning start in the showpiece event.
Teams (from):
Delhi Daredevils: Gautam Gambhir (C), Rajat Bhatia, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Karthik, Mithun Manhas, Amit Mishra, Dirk Nannes, Ashish Nehra, Aavishkar Salvi, Pradeep Sangwan, Virender Sehwag, Owais Shah, Manoj Tiwary, Glenn McGrath.
Victoria: Cameron White (C), Aiden Blizzard, Aaron Finch, Shane Harwood, John Hastings, Brad Hodge, Jon Holland, David Hussey, Andrew McDonald, Bryce McGain, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Rob Quiney, Peter Siddle, Matthew Wade.
—Agencies