IPL 2021, Preview: Chahar, Ashwin In Focus In Key Battle Between MI And DC

The finalists of the last edition, both Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC) have taken the early initiative this season and climbed to the top half of the points table and are just behind Royal Challengers Bangalore, who sit at the top.

While DC is second, MI is third, making Tuesday's clash a very interesting one.

Both teams are full of power-packed players with great batting depth. They are also well-matched in their bowling attack, possessing world-class bowlers.

While both teams have lost one match each out of the three they have played, MI has managed to hang on despite their famed power-packed middle order not doing well.

Their battle with DC's India off-spinner R Ashwin will be the one to watch out for. Ashwin's tight bowling had helped DC keep Punjab Kings under 200 in Sunday's match which DC overhauled easily.

While the action in the middle overs between Ashwin and Mumbai Indians batting could be the highlight of Tuesday's match, it will also be interesting to see two quality spinners battle out against each other.

The experienced Ashwin has bowled reasonably well without doing anything spectacular. Mumbai Indians leg-spinner Rahul Chahar has been among wickets and helped MI win both their previous two matches.

Chahar took four wickets against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and then took three wickets against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) to help his team win despite having put up below-par totals.

A big challenge for Delhi Capitals will be to adjust to the slow MA Chidambaram Stadium where they will be playing for the first time this season. MI has played all their three matches at the venue.

Squads:

Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (captain/wicketkeeper), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith, Sam Billings, Shimron Hetmyer, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Umesh Yadav, Tom Curran, Avesh Khan, Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey, Ripal Patel, Lukman Hussain Meriwala, M Siddharth, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Chris Woakes, Vishnu Vinod (wicketkeeper), Aditya Tare (wicketkeeper).

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Adam Milne, Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Arjun Tendulkar, Chris Lynn, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), James Neesham, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Marco Jansen, Mohsin Khan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, Quinton De Kock (wicketkeeper), Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Tiwary, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult, Yudhvir Singh.