Daijiworld Media Network

Sharjah, Apr 17: Kevin Pietersen begins his crusade as a T20 mercenary with this Indian T20 League. However, he will have to wait. A finger injury, which was earlier dismissed as a niggle has ruled him out of Delhi's tourney opener against the Virat Kohli-led Bangalore. In the absence of KP, Dinesh Karthik, who returned to his IPL roots, will lead the new-look Delhi side.

Bangalore have a cluster of X-factor players in Gayle, AB, Kohli, Ablie Morkel but their bowling appears lop-sided. Yuvraj Singh, who was purchased for a whopping 14 crore will be the cynosure of all eyes though. Bangalore will want to welcome the big hitting Yuvraj rather than his pale shadow, who stumbled badly in the final of the recently concluded T20 Cup. A hearty welcome to the second game of the Indian T20 League. If the first match is anything to go by, then spin will play a pivotal role in the UAE.

Bangalore have won the toss and have opted to field

Team Profiles:

Delhi:

Tipped as one of the high-flyers of the previous edition on the back of their impressive run to the semi-final in the 2012 Indian T20 League, Delhi crashed badly, enduring an wooden spoon finish with a paltry 3 wins in 16 games. The advent of the new season, a new host, a new captain, a new coach, all springs fresh hope. With Kevin Pietersen and Gary Kirsten at the helm, Delhi will be hoping to make a lasting impact this year.

Strengths: Arguably, Delhi possess a strong batting line up at their disposal. Kevin Pietersen's international career may have been made a scapegoat for the Ashes debacle but nobody can doubt his prowess. Armed with flamboyant stroke-play, KP is still a game-changer. Watch out for his patented flammingo pulls and the switch hits. It will be interesting to view how he handles leadership though, considering his bitter-sweet English captaincy stint. Young and wild, Quinton de Kock, has already carved out a niche for himself at the top of the order. Murali Vijay, who is most likely to partner him, is a proven performer in the Indian T20 League and so is the busy Dinesh Karthik. DK, who was the engine-room of Mumbai's middle order, is expected to play a similar role for the Delhi. The in-form JP Duminy, the jack-in-the-box Ross Taylor, and a fit again Manoj Tiwary et all prop up the batting further with Kiwi all-rounder, Jimmy Neesham, enlisted with the task of throwing the finishing punches. The 23-year-old made quite a splash in the 2013 T20 WC League with his lusty blows, remember?

Kedhar Jhadav, having signed off the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy season as the top run-getter, was bought back by Delhi by virtue of the right to match card.The spunky keeper-batsman will strive to jostle DK and de Kock for a berth in the XI. Gary Kirsten's excellent man management skills and ice-cool demeanour also come as a major plus for the Delhi.

Weakness: In stark contrast to their batting depth, Delhi's bowling appears thin. Siddarth Kaul and Rahul Shukla are accurate bowlers but they lack variety as well as international experience. As good a talent Jaydev Unadkat is, he is a death wish or a gasoline tanker. One game he bowls in the right areas but sprays the ball all around the shop in the very next game. The side will also have to grapple with the erratic leggies of Rahul Sharma. Whilst Neesham will have to double up as a bowling finisher, much will hinge upon Mohammed Shami and Shahbaaz Nadeem.

Opportunities: The build up to the 2014 season has been upbeat right from the auction, where Delhi avoided splurging of money, making smart buys after shouldering arms at the retention table. If the KP-Gary combo clicks, then Delhi could be well be in the hunt for a semi-final berth.

Threat: Much like the moon, the Delhi have waxed and waned over the years with booming highs followed by disappointing lows. Inconsistency and wilting under pressure continue to remain the biggest threats for the team.

Bangalore:

April 18th, 2014 will mark six years to the day when the Indian T20 League was proudly launched with Bangalore facing Kolkata in the opening encounter. A lot of stuff has gone by since then, some pleasant and some unpleasant, plenty of things have been said, there has been enormous emotions all over, and yet after six years since the cash rich tournament was launched, Bangalore are still searching for their first piece of silverware. It has not been that Bangalore have had a horrid time in the tournament, twice, in 2009 and 2011 they reached the finals of the Indian T20 League, twice, in 2010 and 2011, they reached the knock-out stage of the T20 WC League, but on all those occasions, the team faltered to deceive and ended up returning back empty handed. Known for its flamboyance, Bangalore has paid the penalty often for preferring style over substance. Will their 2014 squad do any different to the previous ones?

Strengths: It does need any mathematical analysis to recognize the strength of this team. A top-6 that consists of Christopher Gayle, Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh and Albie Morkel will send shivers down the spine of any bowling unit, and Bangalore has just managed to assemble the whole lot. While Gayle can turn a match on its head in a span of a few overs, no team (in any format) has found an answer to stop the duo of Kohli and de Villiers from plundering runs at will. Over the last few seasons, Bangalore seemed to lose momentum after the exit of the trio, and the management has rectified it by buying Yuvraj Singh and Albie Morkel. All in all, this is one batting unit that is bound to create excitement to the spectator, even if he not a fan of the franchise.

Weakness: If the batting looks terrific, the bowling unit looks pale in comparison. Mitchell Starc, the Australian left-arm pacer leads the attack which looks very thin when compared to the batting riches. Having spent a whopping 44.5 crores on just 4 players, Bangalore was hamstrung when the choices came down to young Indian hopefuls. Will Yuvraj Singh live up to his 14 crore tag? Certainly, the average Bangalore fan would be desperately hoping for good returns from the versatile middle-order batsman, something that hasn't been the case during the recent T20 Cup in Bangladesh. Will Albie Morkel turn out to be an asset with the ball? Will the lack of spinners hinder the team? Will the absence of local flavour go against the team? There are plenty of questions to which the Bangalore management must find answers and pretty quickly as well.

Opportunities: The lack of big names in the bowling line-up also offers the opportunity for fringe players to make a name for themselves. Ashoke Dinda and Varun Aaron have had a brief taste of international cricket, while Shadab Jakati, who has previously played for the Chennai franchise knows what it is to be a part of a winning unit. With 21 players in the roster, Bangalore is amongst the teams that have kept their squad strength to bare minimum. This guarantees chances to many players, and the chance to become a hero.

Threats: With the not so imposing bowling line-up, the batsmen would be hard-pressed to either set-up/chase down big scores at regular frequency. This will put any batting unit under pressure, particularly in crunch situations. With Bangalore having never tasted silverware, even a single lacklustre day with the bat might signal their doom.

Teams:

Delhi (From): Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Murali Vijay, Jean-Paul Duminy, Manoj Tiwary, Quinton de Kock, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Sharma, Saurabh Tiwary, Laxmi Shukla, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jaydev Unadkat, James Neesham, Kedar Jadhav, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Shukla, Siddarth Kaul, Shahbaz
Nadeem, Ross Taylor, Milind Kumar, Wayne Parnell, HS Sharath, Jayant Yadav

Bangalore (From): Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel(w), Albie Morkel, Mitchell Starc, Ashok Dinda, Ravi Rampaul, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nic Maddinson, Varun Aaron, Vijay Zol, Abu Nechim, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shadab Jakati, Sandeep Warrier, Harshal Patel, Tanmay Mishra, Yogesh Takawale, Sachin Rana