IPL 2018: 5 takeaways from Kings XI Punjab’s win over Delhi Daredevils

Oh boy! Indian Premier League (IPL) is back and after the memorable first match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, it was the turn of Kings XI Punjab to take on Delhi Daredevils. During the mega-auction, both teams had revamped their sides and after years of disappointment Kings and Daredevils wanted to start on a fresh note. Kings XI Punjab won the toss and elected to bowl first and in a new captain Ravichandran Ashwin, Kings XI Punjab looked like a unit which wanted to compete.

Delhi Daredevils, on the other hand, looked a little rusty and apart from captain Gautam Gambhir, the team looked a little under-prepared and lost the first match by six wickets. These are still early days in the tournament and Delhi with the inclusion of Glenn Maxwell would no doubt make a strong return. Kings XI Punjab have started the season on a winning note and Ashwin would be telling his boys to nail the basics.

Here are the five takeaways from  Kings XI Punjab’s win over Delhi Daredevils:

1. Gautam Gambhir’s grand comeback to Delhi Daredevils: Indian discard Gautam Gambhir returned to his home franchise after eight years (KKR, 2011-17) and looked completely at ease and found his range straightaway. Gambhir opened alongside Kiwi explosive batsman Colin Munro and gave Delhi a steady start. Gambhir scored 55 off 42 balls before he was run out and in the end, it cost Daredevils 15-20 runs. Gambhir might be 36 years of age, but his footwork against spin was pristine and if he would have got a little bit of support from the other hand then the story would have been different.

2. Delhi Daredevils losing the plot in middle overs: Delhi Daredevils lost the early wicket of Munro, but Gambhir was batting really well at the other hand and team had got off to a reasonable start. But, the team struggled to capitalise on a strong start and lost wickets at the regular interval. Shreyas Iyer (11), Rishabh Pant (28) failed to kick on and Daredevils fell, short by some crucial runs in the end.

3. KL Rahul justifying his Rs 11 crore price tag: India’s KL Rahul so far has a mixed career and has been in and out of the Indian team in the recent past. When Kings XI Punjab spent Rs 11 crore on Rahul during the auctions plenty of eyebrows were raised and it was thought that Rahul might not deserve this price tag. But, Rahul played fearlessly and scored IPL’s fastest fifty off just 14 balls and proved that he is not a Test specialist only. Rahul also kept wickets and his explosive batting will no doubt enthuse Kings XI supporters a great deal.

4. Kings XI middle order getting the job done: After Rahul’s explosive start, Kings XI didn’t get carried away and build their chase smartly. Apart from Yuvraj Singh (12 off 22 balls) all the other batters paced their innings nicely and another Karnataka player Karun Nair and later on South African David Miller applied the finishing touches. The Kings XI batsmen were helped by poor and lethargic bowling of Delhi and apart from Chris Morris, there was no penetration in the visitors attack.

5. Ravichandran Ashwin’s innovative and out of the box captaincy: India’s ace spinner and newly appointed Kings XI Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin stayed true to his word and was innovative in his captaincy. Whether it was making frequent bowling changes or not selecting Chris Gayle, Ashwin backed his instincts and it paid off in the end. Ashwin played alongside two spinners in Axar Patel and Mujeeb Ur Rahman and rotated his bowlers quite well. The Tamil Nadu born player will face challenges in future, but at least has begun well.