In a rather unexpected way of beginning, The IPL 2019 got underway with a low scoring affair at Chepauk. The famous rivalry of CSK and RCB, Saw CSK have the upper hand yet again, Even though in a difficult track to bat on, as far as T20 cricket is concerned.

The renamed and redesigned franchise, Delhi capitals, on the other hand, Set the stage on fire with the first 200+ score of this year's IPL in their very first match, Against MI in Mumbai! The Capitals went on to win the match by a convincing 37 run margin, As their bowling unit was also strong enough to completely outplay Mumbai Indians and restrict the 3-time champions to 176.

As Delhi begin their Journey home, CSK comes a threat to stop their exuberance. In the previous 5 clashes between these two teams spanning across almost 5 years, CSK lead in a 3-2 Margin.Delhi has won one (The most recent match ) and lost one in the 2018 season against CSK, While the other victory for the Capitals, Came in the 2015 edition When they were actually daredevils.

In their Opening game, The capitals got to a huge total, Thanks to the scintillating knock of Rishabh Pant, A 27 ball 78 which featured seven boundaries and as many sixes, at a humongous strike rate of 288.88 

Batting at Number 5; Coming in at the fall of the third wicket, Pant stood unbeaten till the end! The next top scores for Delhi were also made by Swashbucklers Ingram (47 off 32 7x4 1x6 ) and Dhawan (43 off 36 4x4 1x6 ) 

In the bowling department, It was the pace trio of Delhi in Rabada, Boult and Keemo Paul topping the chart, Rabada emerged as the best of the lot with an extremely intense spell of 2-23 (Wickets of Ben cutting and Yuvraj Singh ) in There were 10 dot balls as well.

In the CSK camp, Tahir, Harbhajan, Jadeja came out with flying colors as a threesome, and the same amount of intensity can be expected from them. With the bat, Shane Watson will look to resurrect his flow, As he had suffered a 10 ball horror period before eventually getting out without scoring. In a tricky track, Rayudu stood as an anchor with a 42 ball 28 wherein Raina had a 21 ball 19 for himself! Both these batsmen are expected to deliver as much as possible to ensure the stability of the CSK's batting unit.

Such a scenario would ensure the possibility of a heavy burst by the middle and lower order batsmen, As the likes of Kedhar Jadhav, Dhoni,  Bravo and even Jadeja are capable of powering the team to convincing totals by being entertaining finishers. With reference to the XIs fielded by the respective teams in their previous matches,  Its highly unlikely to see any changes happening as changing the winning combination doesn't happen, unless there are a substantial change in the pitch and conditions.

Probable XIs 

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Colin Ingram, Chris Morris/Keemo Paul, Axar Patel, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, Ishant Sharma

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir

Additional options of overseas recruits in the squad are Englishmen David Willey and Sam Billings! New Zealander Mitchell Santner and South African veteran Faf Du Plessis are the names remaining to be seen in action. 

It is to be noted that,  The South African pacer Lungi Ngidi isn't a part of the squad anymore as he suffered a side strain while playing against Sri Lanka at Capetown in the last ODI of the 5 match series. This injury ruled Ngidi out of the whole IPL season 

In the Delhi Dugout,  The experienced Leg-spin bowler Amit Mishra and Young left-hand batsman Manjot Kalra are worth mentioning Indian names in the bench strength 

Kiwi Opener Colin Munro and Nepalese rising star leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane are also in the reserves and Could fill the overseas slots in the XI if they are to have any replacement.

Taking the Feroz Shah Kotla track into Focus, Last year, The matches played at Delhi yielded 160 + scores on most occasions. Capitals went on to make 219/4, Their highest of the season against KKR, Eventually at Kotla.

It remains to be seen if the track too would have got refurbished just as the Capitals have changed the name of the franchise and have also made changes in squad and support staff.

By all means, The Chennai -Delhi dual promises to be a clash of two units that look like distant cousins, Taking the element of Youth vs Experience in the respective sides.

- Kumaran Kumanan 

Pic courtesy - iplt20.com