Under new captain, Delhi eye new era

All eyes on Friday at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium will be on new skipper Shreyas Iyer's stewardship as Delhi Daredevils head into a new era under the 23-year-old batsman.

Shock waves were flying on Wednesday, following Gautam Gambhir's resignation as captain. If that was a shock, then surprising thing was seeing Iyer given the mantle to lead the side.

Unlike Gambhir, who led Kolkata Knight Riders for two IPL titles in the past, Iyer doesn't have any experience of captaining a major team.

It will be interesting to see how he approaches the game.

"Shreyas loves it, he does really enjoy being in senior position. He speaks really well. He is really clear on what he wants to do, same with GG (Gautam Gambhir). He has got his own ideas on tactics which is great," said Delhi's bowling coach James Hopes.

The first task would be to install the winning mentality among the players to help them put a winning run.

Having won just one of the six matches in IPL this season, Delhi might have to win seven of their remaining eight matches to cement a top four place.

Normally, 16 points is the magic number to seal the play-off status, but sometimes 14 can also be enough, depending on how other teams also fare in the remaining fixtures.

Batting has been the biggest problem for the hosts and it was evident in the last match, when they failed to chase down a modest 144-target against Kings XI Punjab in their maiden match of the season at Kotla.

Injuries to Jason Roy (side strain) and Chris Morris (back problem) did not help their cause either.

The explosive Australian Glenn Maxwell has had a torrid time so far. Barring the 47 against Kolkata, Maxwell has struggled badly for runs. In five matches he managed just 93 in total and will be looking to get his act together.

Infact their former skipper Gambhir will be another who will be desperate to improve his form. He was KKR's run machine during his time in West Bengal capital city. He is yet to reach those heights at Delhi. Having relinquished captaincy, he might bat freely from now on without any pressure.

The new skipper Iyer has been in good form, having notched two fifties. He took Delhi agonizingly close to victory against Punjab, but was unable to help them cross over the finish line, owing to his compatriot's poor batting display.

Rishabh Pant has been another consistent performer and might look to continue that form following a minor blip in form against Punjab in last match.

The bowlers came good in the last match preventing Punjab from scoring big. Avesh Khan picked up couple of wickets and Ternt Boult was at his usual best.

The pick of the lot was Liam Plunkett. Making his IPL debut, the English pacer was unplayable and end with 3/17. He will be an automatic pick for Friday's match.

Amit Mishra could also retain is place in the starting line-up, having bowled decently in the last game.

The biggest concern would be that of Mohammad Shami's poor form. He did not play the last match and it will be interesting to see whether he will be recalled from Friday's game.

However, their bowling coach Hopes sounded positive about Shami regaining his place back in the team.

"I think he has got some personal stuff going on. And it's tough to concentrate on the job sometimes. Players try to use cricket as a release. Everywhere you have to sort out your off-field stuffs before you start performing on the field. He is in the process of doing that and it obviously is going to take some time. This season is not yet over for him," Hopes said on Thursday.

On the other hand, Kolkata are enduring a mixed campaign. They won three matches and lost as many games this season.

Under new leader Dinesh Karthik, they are currently lying at fourth position. With Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore are not far behind, they would be desperate to win the match to consolidate the position.

Bowling has been their biggest strength. Spinners such as Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla have been performing consistently.

With pacers like Mitchell Johnson, youngster Shivam Mavi and England's Tom Curran in their ranks, it will be difficult for Delhi to score freely against them.

In batting, Andre Russell has been a revelation and the team would be eager for him to maintain the momentum.

The likes of Chris Lynn, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik and Robin Uthappa complete a solid batting unit for the visitors.