Delhi looked listless in their defeat against Bangalore. The top order collapsed, bowlers fluffed their lines and the fielding was ordinary. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will carry the momentum of beating defending champions Mumbai in their opening game.
Captaincy issue
Dinesh Karthik?s captaincy (standing in for Kevin Pietersen) was pretty flat in the first match. He allowed Yuvraj Singh to flourish by not bringing in fast bowlers from both ends when the batter was struggling against pace at the start of his innings. Delhi will once again miss their regular captain Kevin Pietersen who?s still recovering from a finger injury.
Narine factor
Sunil Narine, by picking up four wickets in the game against Mumbai, reminded batsmen that they haven?t found a way to deal with his variations. Left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla add variety to the spin attack.
Focus on Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir looked to be struggling during his eight-ball duck against Mumbai. But Jacques Kallis, who rolled back the years, more than made up for his skipper?s failure with a Man of the Match performance. Gambhir, however, was spotless in his captaincy; especially the way he utilised his bowlers.
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