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New Delhi: It will be a 'clash of titans' at the Feroz Shah Kotla when Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians take on a new-look Delhi Daredevils led by Virender Sehwag in their opening match of the Indian Premier League on Sunday.
There are enough ingredients for a mouthwatering contest as two of the biggest names in Indian cricket will be out to prove their supremacy.
Mumbai Indians, who were the finalists last year, are easily the favourites on paper with Tendulkar, Kieron Pollard, Andrew Symonds ready to take any attack to the cleaners with their murderous approach.
For Delhi Daredevils, which lost as many as seven (Gautam Gambhir, AB de Villiers, Ashish Nehra, Pradeep Sangwan, Daniel Vettori, Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia) of their key players, it will be a real challenge to do well with a set-up that neither consists of any big international names nor an Indian player of repute save the skipper and South African speedster Morne Morkel.
The team consists of mainly India discards and fringe players who are trying to claw their way back into the national team. Therefore, Sehwag certainly won't have the cushion that Tendulkar will have in his team.
After tasting World Cup triumph in his sixth attempt, the iconic batsman would definitely like to add an IPL crown to his long list of accomplishments.
With Mumbai Indians management deciding to retain four players (Tendulkar, Pollard, Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga), the core of the team is intact.
Also the addition of the talented Rohit Sharma, New Zealand all-rounder James Franklin and controversial Australian batsman Andrew Symonds gives the necessary impetus to the line-up.
The presence of domestic heavyweights such as Ambati Rayudu, Rajagopal Sathish also adds variety to the line-up. Rayudu, who kept wickets for Mumbai Indians during the last season, is surely expected to don the big gloves which will give MI a chance to field an extra batsman.
The Kotla pitch is likely to be on the slower side, which means Harbhajan Singh's four overs and Lasith Malinga's toe-crushing yorkers can be key to Mumbai's success.
Rohit will also be expected to bowl his off-breaks. Someone like Munaf Patel, who bowls wicket-to-wicket, can be very handy on the docile Kotla track.
Match facts
Sunday April, 2011 (day/night)
Start time 16:00 local (10:30 GMT)
