IPL 2023: Bowlers in focus as Delhi Capitals look to bounce back against Gujarat Titans (preview)

New Delhi, April 3 (IANS) Delhi Capitals' bowling attack will be under focus in a bid to bounce back in IPL 2023 in the comfort of their home ground when they host Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.

The two teams have met only once in IPL, during last year when Gujarat emerged victorious by 14 runs. Tuesday's match is also the first time Gujarat will play an away match as part of the tournament returning to the home-and-away format.

Back to playing at their home base for the first time since 2019, Delhi will be itching to put up a much-improved show in all departments of the game after being underwhelming in a 50-run loss to Lucknow Super Giants in their tournament opener.

Their bowlers lacked the cutting edge with the ball, ground fielding was sloppy, and the batting line-up was blown away by Mark Wood's raw pace. But with Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and Mustafizur Rahman now with the Delhi team, Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly may be tempted to have a rejig of the fast-bowling combination.

But it remains to be seen if either Nortje or Ngidi are rushed into the match as they landed in New Delhi on Monday, right after completing international commitments for South Africa.

Chetan Sakariya and Mukesh Kumar had forgettable outings, while Khaleel Ahmed had a decent outing. But his dropping the catch of Kyle Mayers, apart from a couple of fielding mistakes by Delhi, set the stage for their downfall.

Moreover, despite taking two catches, Sarfaraz Khan looked a little rusty as a makeshift wicketkeeper in the absence of Rishabh Pant. It will be keenly seen how Sarfaraz develops as a wicketkeeper as the tournament progresses.

On the other hand, Gujarat would be eager to build on a good start to the tournament. Despite losing Kane Williamson for the rest of the season, Gujarat could bring David Miller into their side for Tuesday's match, with the maverick left-handed batter joining the side in New Delhi on Monday.

If Miller comes in, then expect Sai Sudharsan to continue batting at number three in a batting line-up where Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha, captain Hardik Pandya and Rahul Tewatia had good starts with the bat. With the ball, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Shami, Alzarri Joseph and Josh Little had productive outings and would be keen to challenge Delhi's batters.

Squads:

Delhi Capitals: David Warner (c), Khaleel Ahmed, Aman Khan, Yash Dhull, Praveen Dubey, Sarfaraz Khan (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Lalit Yadav, Mitchell Marsh, Mukesh Kumar, Mustafizur Rahman, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Vicky Ostwal, Manish Pandey, Ripal Patel, Axar Patel, Rovman Powell, Rilee Rossouw, Chetan Sakariya, Phil Salt, Ishant Sharma, Prithvi Shaw, Abhishek Porel.

Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya (c), KS Bharat, Alzarri Joseph, Josh Little, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Mohammed Shami, Darshan Nalkande, Noor Ahmad, Urvil Patel, Rashid Khan, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Sai Kishore, B Sai Sudharsan, Pradeep Sangwan, Vijay Shankar, Mohit Sharma, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Odean Smith, Rahul Tewatia, Matthew Wade, Jayant Yadav, Yash Dayal.