Virender Sehwag versus Adam Gilchrist, Tillakaratne Dilshan versus Andrew Symonds and AB de Villiers versus Herschelle Gibbs. It cannot get much better than when these players come up against each other today. The Delhi Daredevils' game against the Deccan Chargers has all the trappings of a Bollywood blockbuster. After successive defeats to the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, the Daredevils will have to lift their game when they face the Chargers, and their stand-in captain Dinesh Kartik hopes Dilshan and de Villiers will start firing.
"Dilshan and AB did well for but they have been slow starters this year," said Karthik. "We need to have patience with them. Dilshan is the T20 Player of the Year and we know AB's ability. It is a matter of time and they will come back with big scores." Gilchrist, the Chargers captain, is aware of the danger provided by the opposition, particularly of Sehwag's power hitting but he does not just think only of one batsman. "Viru is an absolute beauty to watch," he said.
"We will obviously keep him in mind in our game plan. But we will have the whole batting line-up in mind. Sometimes you think we have got the danger man out but then someone else chips in, and the Daredevils have that kind of players." Deccan have won their last two games after defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders. "We need to maintain a good position from the onset," Gilchrist said. "We have had the same XI for the last three games and now we will have to look for some changes. It is a long tournament and we will adopt a rotation policy."
The Chennai Super Kings will be at home to Kings XI Punjab, who would be looking to get off the block, in the late game. Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils (2.30pm start) and Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab (6.30pm start) on CricOne