With a new name and some exciting young Indian talent in its bank, new look Delhi side — formerly Daredevils and now Capitals, will look to break the jinx of poor performances of past eleven editions and is eager to make a memorable outing against Indian Premier League powerhouse and three-time champion Mumbai Indians led by Indian limited over deputy Rohit Sharma in their opening game of the 12th edition at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
With Mumbai's two most promising domestic prodigies Shreyas Iyer and Prithvi Shaw along with local Delhites Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan and Ishant Sharma in its lineup, the Capitals are capable of pulling out exceptional performance and possess every element that could make it a champion team this time.
And with pacers like Trent Boult and Kagiso Rabada in the bowling front, Delhi has a bunch of match winners in its line-up. However, the challenge for Shreyas will be to motivate his players to perform as a unit and help the franchise to start off the campaign with the win.
The side's batting looks destructive with the fab four Indian batsmen (Shaw, Iyer, Pant, and Dhawan) who will get able support from Colin Munro up the order while destructive Colin Ingram and Hanuma Vihari will add strength to the middle order.
In addition South African all-rounder Chris Morris and Axar Patel's performance will also be the key for Delhi's long run in the tournament.
On the other hand, Rohit and Mumbai would like to overcome the forgetful performance of 2018 and lift the trophy once again. And considering the tradition of winning the trophy in odd years (2013, 2015 and 2017) Mumbai will be one of the favorites to land trophy home.
Mumbai has n number of match winners in its line-up, which starts with skipper Rohit himself, who this time will open the innings along with Quinton de Kock, who will play for Mumbai after being traded from Bangalore. His addition can turn out to be a blessing for Mumbai as the South African is in stupendous form.
Also, the presence of Yuvraj Singh in the setup adds strength to the middle order which has a balanced mix of young Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav along with Pandya siblings (Hardik and Kunal) who will look to continue their dominance in the shorter format.
While experienced Kieron Pollard and Ben Cutting are some of the other big names available in the dugout, and will be a cause of concern for the opposition side even if Hardik, Rohit or Bumrah take rest due to workload management keeping in mind the upcoming World Cup.
In the bowling section, despite the absence of tournament's leading wicket-taker Lasith Malinga, who won't be available for selection in the first six matches Mumbai's bowling, looks strong with Jason Behrendroff, Mitchell McClenaghan and Barinder Sran's presence providing support to the talismanic Jasprit Bumrah.
While Krunal Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Anukul Roy, Rahul Chahar and rising star Mayank Markande provide ample spin options.