NEW DELHI: There seems to be a spring in every step Delhi Capitals are taking this season. Yes, it might be only two games so far, but with two comprehensive victories, Capitals give the impression of finally translating their potential into performance and look capable of being a team that can go the distance. The Axar Patel-led team will be eager to build on its impressive start and complete a hat-trick of victories when they face a winless Gujarat Titans on their home turf here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday night.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The good news for Titans is that their regular skipper Shubman Gill is fit and available to play after missing out the last game against Rajasthan Royals due to muscle spasms. Though ‘Impact Player’ Sameer Rizvi hogged the headlines with two scintillating half-centuries, it’s the performance of the bowlers that set up the twin wins for the Capitals. Their bowling unit appears to be a well-rounded one, with the pace triumvirate of Lungi Ngidi, Mukesh Kumar and T Natarajan making up for the absence of Australian speedster Mitchell Starc. Mukesh seems to have learnt quickly from his seam-bowling partner Ngidi, adopting similarly clever deceptions of pace and length which helped him peg Mumbai Indians back in the previous tie and return with impressive figures of 2/26.“If you manage to get two or three wickets in the Powerplay for around 40 runs, it will be difficult to score over 200 unless you bowl badly at the death. That’s what we have been able to do so far. The presence of Lungi Ngidi has also helped. He has variations and a good slower ball. He is putting the experience of playing in Indian conditions during the World Cup recently to good use. He also provides useful tips to his fellow pacers,” said Capitals bowling coach Munaf Patel.
Skipper Axar has not been afraid to bring himself on or use leg-spinning allrounder Vipraj Nigam in the Powerplay. The dexterity of left-arm wrist-spin bowler Kuldeep Yadav has helped the Capitals maintain pressure on their rivals even in the middle overs. The only tinge of worry for the Capitals would be the cheap returns of their top-order batters KL Rahul and Nitish Rana in the first two matches. Rahul, with scores of 0 and 1 and Rana, with 15 and 0, will be keen to repay the faith shown in them by the team management, who have offered them their favoured batting slots.The Titans will be smarting from the defeat against Rajasthan Royals in the previous encounter as they choked during the run chase. Their bowling attack, comprising Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Ashok Sharma, Prasidh Krishna and experienced spinner Rashid Khan looks intimidating on paper but has been guilty of leaking runs.For Titans to come out of their slump, it is imperative that the batting clicks in unison. Hopefully, Gill will be out there leading them from the front.NUMBER GAMES
- 205 – An unbroken first-wicket partnership between Sai Sudharsan (108*) and Shubman Gill (93*) for Gujarat Titans vs DC at Delhi on May 18, 2025, is the highest by any pair for any wicket in a successful chase in the IPL.
- 112 – An unbeaten knock off 65 balls by KL Rahul at Delhi on May 18, 2025, is the highest by a Delhi batter vs Gujarat Titans.
- 2 – Both the defeats suffered by Delhi Capitals to Gujarat Titans last year came while defending a score of 200 or more.
—Stats: Rajesh Kumar
