Perennial under-achievers Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab will look to recover from opening losses and put their campaign back on track when they clash in an IPl match here on Friday.
laggards last season, Delhi and Punjab had hoped for a positive start but both the teams suffered contrasting defeats at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat lions respectively.
The Daredevils, who had qualified for Champions league T20 twice, have a new unit with current India U-19 coach and batting great Rahul Dravid as their mentor and Paddy Upton as their coach.
Against Kolkata, Delhi cut a sorry figure when they were dismissed for 98 in 17.4 overs with only four of their batsmen reaching double figures and Zaheer has to ensure that they come up with a better performance.
A lot was expected from Carlos Brathwaite, who became the toast of the cricketing world after hitting England's Ben Stokes for four consecutive sixes to win the ICC World T20 final for the West Indies.
Similarly, all-rounder Pawan Negi, who was bought for 8.5 Crores, becoming the most expensive Indian player in the IPl Auction of 2016, also needs to step up and deliver.
Delhi's batting unit looks weak with only Quinton de Kock (17) and Sanju Samson (15) making the double figures among the top five batsmen. Comparatively, their bowling unit looks more solid with the presence of Nathan Counter-Nile, Chris Morris and Amit Mishra, besides Zaheer himself.
On the other hand, Kings XI Punjab, who have been the runner-up and semi-finalists in the past IPls, were equally lacklustre as they finished at the bottom of the table last year.
Will go with an aggressive approach: mishra
Notwithstanding the dismal start to their campaign in IPl-9, Delhi Daredevils leg-spinner Amit Mishra on Thursday said his team remains "positive" and will employ an "aggressive" approach when it takes on Kings XI Punjab here on Friday.
"We look to have a positive approach. The preparations are going on well. We have been working hard at the nets. We're confident and want to do well. A few matches may not go our way initially but we are going to go all out with an aggressive approach," Mishra told reporters.
"This team has a lot of good players. We have some big hitters in Carlos Brathwaite and Sanju Samson is also there in the middle order but we need to boost our middle order and click as a unit.
"The pithes so far are conducive to batting and as a bowler you need to have variety and think how the batsmen is going to play us and accordingly bowl."