The slugfest between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Delhi Capitals (DC) on Friday (April 22) at Wankhede stadium will see a perfect clash between the two top spinners of IPL 2022, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, popularly knows as 'KulCha'. While RR's Chahal dons the Purple Cap with 17 wickets in his kitty, DC's Kuldeep Yadav is nipping on the former's heels with 13 wickets.
Royals, riding on their Orange Cap-hodler Jos Buttler (375 runs), are a side that is looking pretty formidable at the moment even with a dysfunctional middle-order, save Shimron Hetmyer.
The resurgent Capitals, on the other hand, are battling the agony that comes with a mini Covid-19 outbreak in the camp but despite all the odds, they showed their resilience by a thumping nine-wicket win against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Wednesday.
Kuldeep along with Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav would like to stem the run-flow but thwarting Buttler will be on top of their agenda on a Wankhede track that is expected to be good for batting.
For Chahal, how he varies the pace against a rampaging David Warner or the ever-attacking Prithvi Shaw and skipper Rishabh Pant will be a delight for the fans.
In the past five years, life has come to a full circle for 'Kul-Cha' who were the 'taste' of the nation between 2017 and 2019 when wrist spinners were in vogue during the Ravi Shastri-Virat Kohli era.
While Chahal got a body blow after being dropped from the last T20 World Cup squad and was sporadically picked in white ball formats, Kuldeep also lost his way. He got very little support from either erstwhile national team management or his previous IPL team (KKR) and also endured a career-threatening knee injury.
But now the smile is back and so is the guile. The left-arm wrist spinner's googly -- the one that turns away from right-hander -- is back and so is the conventional left-arm leg-break which comes into the right-hander.
However in these kind of games, the support cast becomes more important as they can create those little game-changing moments that impact the final outcome of the game.
Mustafizur Rahaman's cutters and Khaleel Ahmed's clever change of pace could also trouble the likes of Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag.
Similarly, if Trent Boult gets one to tail in first-up, Shaw's response and technique will be tested in earnest.
But Royals have now got a calm death bowler in West Indies' Obed McCoy, who was brilliant while bowling the final over against KKR. McCoy, who made his IPL debut in the last game, is tall and looked like using his height to a good advantage to create awkward angles and length for the Delhi batters.
If middle-order non-performance is an issue for Royals, the DC doesn't seem to have found the second Indian batter in that middle-order slot apart from skipper Pant, who can take the bowling apart.
Mandeep Singh was a massive failure against genuine quick bowling but Sarfaraz Khan is trying to play himself in. Rovman Powell till now has failed to show his destructive self and these are the players, who need to push the envelope when it comes to maintaining the momentum.
Rajasthan Royals' squad 2022:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Shubham Garwal, Dhruv Jurel, Kuldip Yadav, Kuldeep Sen, Tejas Baroka, Anunay Singh, KC Kariappa, Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Rassie Van der Dussen, Nathan Coulter Nile, Jimmy Neesham, Daryl Mitchell, Karun Nair, Obed McCoy, Navdeep Saini, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Delhi Capitals' squad 2022:
Rishabh Pant (Captain), Ashwin Hebbar, David Warner, Mandeep Singh, Prithvi Shaw, Rovman Powell, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya, Khaleel Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav, Lungi Ngidi, Mustafizur Rahman, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Lalit Yadav, Mitchell Marsh, Pravin Dubey, Ripal Patel, Sarfaraz Khan, Vicky Ostwal, Yash Dhull and KS Bharat.
