Two out of two! Our record against Delhi Daredevils in 2017 was a clean sheet. We had already won the home fixture by 14 runs, when we hosted them at the Wankhede. The Daredevils bowlers had pushed us hard, but our bowlers went one up on them as we defended a moderate total. However, we bossed the away fixture and how! The difference in the performances of the two teams was enormous. Batting first, we outplayed them by scoring a huge total of 212 runs, as Kieron Pollard smashed 63 runs off just 35 balls. This match only got better, as our bowlers wrapped DD’s entire innings for a mere 66 runs. The 146 run-margin was the biggest victory in the history of the Indian Premier League.

This season, Delhi Daredevils will come a lot stronger with a powerful squad. We will be hosting the first match against them on 14th April while the away match will be held on 20th May, which will also be our last game of the league stage.

The Daredevils have reinforced their squad in every department and it seems like a well-balanced squad. Gautam Gambhir returns to DD and he will be accompanied by the likes of Jason Roy, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Colin Munro. The bowling department is comprised of well-established, wicket-taking bowlers like Mohammed Shami, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult. Glenn Maxwell, Chris Morris and Daniel Christian strengthen the all-rounders’ department. It will be interesting to see the encounter between Rohit Sharma and Kagiso Rabada on Indian pitches after their showdown in South Africa. Bumrah, Cummins and Mustafizur’s pace attack against hard-hitting batsmen like Maxwell and Roy will be equally entertaining to watch.

Out of the 20 matches played with Delhi Daredevils, we hold a slight edge, having won 11 matches. Rohit Sharma and the MI boys will look to extend this lead by winning both games once again. This will be a good achievement as DD has a decent track record against us when compared to other teams. History won’t matter as the teams will lock horns with some new faces, and both Wankhede Stadium and Feroz Shah Kotla will welcome these team to display a couple of cracking encounters.