The Delhi Daredevils and Pune Warriors will face each other in their final match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi, on Saturday, May 21, 2011.
The match has lost its relevance in terms of tournament standings. Both the teams are out of the race and will be playing for pride if nothing more.
Pune is currently placed at ninth place while their opponents are placed at tenth.
Sourav Ganguly will be one to look out for. He will most probably play his last match of the IPL, though he has not announced his retirement as yet.
The Daredevils were one of best sides of the IPL in previous editions, but their performance deteriorated this year. Pune, on the other hand, are one of two newly introduced teams to the lucrative league.
Delhi is without the inspiring leader Virender Sehwag, who is out due to a shoulder injury. James Hopes is captaining the side in his absence.
The Daredevils’ coach, David Sheppard, has already turned his focus on the next IPL season and is anticipating a much better result next time around.
Shipperd said, “We have started on the next season. We are into a review process. We will bounce back strongly next year and things will change for us next season.”
The Warriors, despite being at the bottom of this tournament, have done well over all. Certain youngsters have stepped up for them and their future looks bright.
Rahul Sharma has been a real find for the Warriors. His skipper, Yuvraj Singh, acknowledged the newbie’s efforts and said, “If you see he has taken around 17 [16] wickets in the tournament so far. We are also working on his batting and fielding; he is a bright candidate for one-dayers in the near future.”
Team Form
Form wise both have been dismal but Pune will be considered as the better side, since Delhi just lost three matches on a trot.
Key Players
In the absence of Sehwag, a lot of responsibility has fallen on the shoulders of David Warner. The Australian batsman has the capability to take his side home if he gets set. Delhi also has James Hopes, who is a very talented all-rounder and will be looking to lead his side by example.
Yuvraj was in supreme form for the Indians in the 2011 World Cup.
However, he could not single handedly save his franchise. The left-hander would now want to end the tournament on a high note.
Ganguly has been one of India’s finest batsmen for over a decade and there is no doubt about his class. Delhi would love to see him walk off as soon as possible, while Ganguly, who has scored 50 runs from three matches for Pune, will be eyeing a big finish.
Delhi Dare Devils (probable XI)
Naman Ojha (wicket-keeper), David Warner, Venugopal Rao, Sridharan Sriram, Irfan Pathan, James Hopes (captain), Travis Birt, Yogesh Nagar, Morne Morkel, Varun Aaron, Aavishkar Salvi
Pune Warriors (probable XI)
Jesse Ryder, Manish Pandey, Callum Ferguson, Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa (wicket-keeper), Yuvraj Singh (captain), Sachin Rana, Wayne Parnell, Alfonso Thomas, Rahul Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
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