Delhi, Deccan look to leave basement
ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL game between Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers in Delhi
Match facts
Tuesday, April 19, DelhiStart time 1600 (1030 GMT)
Big picture
This is a contest between a team that would like to believe it has turned a corner and another that seemed to have turned a corner, before it was rather rudely pulled back. They are also traditionally strong IPL sides: Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers have both made two semi-finals each, and Deccan have won once. The auction has left them unsettled though. Delhi have lost many players, including the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Daniel Vettori and Dirk Nannes. Deccan have lost their captain and father figure, Adam Gilchrist, and big players like Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma. The replacements are there, and they come with reputations, but are yet to settle in and compensate for the losses.Team talk
Delhi came together as a team - for the first time this season, as captain Virender Sehwag remarked - in the win against Pune. Except for Tasmanian Matthew Wade, who seemed to struggle against spin in his first game, and wasn't even used as a wicketkeeper. Roelof van der Merwe could come back into the side.In the spotlight
Virender Sehwag is yet to play a Sehwag-like knock this season. He has had two starts, but will want to make a decisive contribution soon.Prime numbers
- In his previous game, Sehwag became the 12th batsman to have scored 1000 IPL runs.
- Pragyan Ojha, with 50 wickets, is one behind all-time leading wicket-taker in IPL, RP Singh.
The chatter
Virender Sehwag
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo