IPL 6: Delhi hope to make winning start on home turf against Rajasthan

A brittle middleorder coupled with the absence of impact players Kevin Pietersen and Jesse Ryder due to injuries has become a cause for concern for the Mahela Jayawardeneled side The hosts would be keeping their fingers crossed for the return of dashing Indian opener Virender Sehwag who missed the last match due back spasms to reinforce their batting lineup Dubbed as a topheavy side Delhi39s middleorder failed to capitalise on a brisk start provided by Jayawardene and explosive Aussie batsman David Warner on a slow Eden Gardens39 track against Kolkata Knight Riders Delhi would be keen to make amends for the crushing sixwicket defeat on Wednesday Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag Pic Rajeev Tyagi The decision to try rookie batsman Manprit Juneja did not bear fruits for the Daredevils as he looked uneasy in his brief stay at the wicket and the side would be better served by the experience of Venugopal Rao in the middle order Despite the unavailability of last year39s PurpleCap holder Morne Morkel for the second consecutive game Delhi39s bowling attack looks settled unit It features a threepronged pace attack comprising Irfan Pathan Ashish Nehra and Umesh Yadav besides leftarm tweaker Shahbaz Nadeem Morkel is currently playing for his domestic side in South Africa and will join the squad from their third match against the Mumbai Indians on April 8 Out of the 10 meetings in the brief IPL history the Daredevils have had the upperhand against their Jaipurbased rivals with six wins and four losses On the other hand Rajasthan Royals who have looked awry since their inaugural edition feat will look to kickstart their campaign on an positive note Except for the 2008 edition in which the Royals emerged surprise winners under the maverick leadership of the legendary Shane Warne the ShilpaShetty coowned team has always finished in the bottomhalf of the table For a side which has often found itself in a knockout situation in the latter part of the long and strenuous tournament the Royals would be aiming to build initial momentum in their pursuit of finishing in the top four This sixth edition would be the last hurrah for former India captain Rahul Dravid and he would want to finish on a high as the skipper of a relatively inexperienced side The Royals would be bolstered by the presence of explosive Aussie allrounder Shane Watson at the top of the order The team however would miss his services in the first match as he is yet to join After his muchawaited Test debut ended tamely young Indian batsmen Ajinkya Rahane would be raring to prove his mettle once again in a tournament that brought him to the limelight He would be hoping to replicate his sensational outing of the last season in which he scored 560 runs including a remarkable century in 16 matches In the absence of Watson Dravid is likely to partner Rahane in the opening slot and would be hoping to play the sheetanchor role while expecting seasoned campaigners like Brad Hodge and Owais Shah to maintain a healthy runrate throughout the innings Though the Royals boast of a sturdy batch of foreign player the lingering concern lies over the performances of domestic signings at critical junctures The team management would be expecting the likes of Ashok Menaria Dishant Yagnik and Stuart Binny to stand out from the herd and be counted With the signing of accomplished West Indian speedster Fidel Edwards the Royals seem to have found the alternative to a sporadic Shaun Tait A fitagain S Sreesanth will boost the Royals bowling attack in company of the wily Sidharth Trivedi Young Aussie allrounder James Faulkner who recently bagged a central contract with his national side is likely to make his debut for the Royals in Watson39s absence The Royals have a raw spin attack consisting of last season39s astonishing hattrick stealer Ajit Chandela Mumbai39s Ankeet Chavan and promising under19 spinner Harmeet Singh besides West Indian legspinner Sunil Badree who is making his IPL debut Teams from Delhi Daredevils Mahela Jayawardene Ajit Agarkar Andre Russell Arisht Singhvi Ashish Nehra Ben Rohrer CM Gautum David Warner Gulam Bodi Irfan Pathan Jeevan Mendis Johan Botha Kedar Jadhav Manprit Juneja Naman Ojha Pawan Negi Roelof van der Merwe Royston Dias Siddharth Kaul Sujit NAyak Shahbaz Nadeem Umesh Yadav Unmukt Chand Venugopal Rao Virender Sehwag Yogesh Nagar Rajasthan Royals Rahul Dravid Ajinkya Rahane Ajit Chandila Ankeet Chavan Ashok Menaria Brad Hogg Brad Hodge Dishant Yagnik Fidel Edwards Harmeet Singh James Faulkner Kevon Cooper Kumar Boresha Kushal Janith Perera Owais Shah Pravin Tambe Rahul Shukla S Sreesanth Sachin Baby Samual Badree Sanju Samson Shaun Tait Sreevats Goswami Siddharth Trivedi Stuart Binny Vikramjeet Malik u00a0