A wounded Delhi Daredevils will have to quickly get their acts together if they have to stay alive in the inaugural Champions League when they take on Sri Lanka's Wayamba in their second Group D match at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Sunday.
Daredevils had a disastrous start to their Champions League campaign as Victoria Bushrangers humiliated them by seven wickets in the opening match, which means the game against Wayamba is a must-win situation for the Gautam Gambhir-led side.
The Daredevils batting-line boasts of some big names like swashbuckling Virender Sehwag, Gambhir, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Owais Shah.
However they all cut a sorry figure against a disciplined Victoria attack as the Delhi side could manage only 98 runs.
So the onus will be on Gambhir and Sehwag to deliver the goods for the Daredevils.
"There is huge responsibility on me and Sehwag. From here we have to win every game if we want to be there in the competition. We have nothing to lose and I hope we will put up a much better performance in the next match," Daredevils skipper Gambhir said.
Delhi, who is already struggling with injuries, could miss Mithun Manhas, who has pulled his hamstring in the previous match. Manoj Tiwary is expected to take his place for the crucial encounter.
Bowling too is lacking penetration, as Dirk Nannes and Ashish Nehra were far from impressive and Amit Mishra too was unimpressive in the previous match.
Wayamba, on the other hand, are an unknown entity in this tournament and do not have any foreign recruit in their side, which might work in their favour considering the gelling among the players.
"We know each other very well. Our big advantage is that we have played together for the last two years, so we know each other's strength and weaknesses," Wayamba captain Jehan Mubarrak said.
With the likes of former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, Mubarak, Farvez Mahroof, Ajantha Mendis, Isuru Udana among others up its rank, Wayamba has plenty of international experience in their team. The batting line-up will mainly revolve around Mubarak, Jayawardene and all-rounder Mahroof, who has a fair idea about the strengths and weakness of Daredevils as he plays for the Delhi side in the Indian Premier League.
On the bowling front, Wayamba has a formidable spin attack in Mendis, left-arm orthodox Rangana Herath and leg-break bowler Kaushal Lokuarachichi, who will come more than handy in the slow Kotla wicket.
Teams
Delhi Daredevils: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Virender Sehwag, Rajat Bhatia, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Karthik, Mithun Manhas, Amit Mishra, Yogesh Nagar, Dirk Nannes, Ashish Nehra, Aavishkar Salvi, Pradeep Sangwan, Owais Shah, Manoj Tiwary.
Wayamba: Jehan Mubarak (capt), Ishara Amerasinghe, Sameera de Zoysa, Rangana Herath, Mahela Jayawardene, Shalika Karunanayake, Jeevantha Kulatunga, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Farveez Maharoof, Ajantha Mendis, Thissara Perera, Isuru Udana.
