Mohammed Shami's exceptional swing bowling is a dangerous prospect for the Delhi Capitals' batters.

Shami poses big threat

The first thing that the Delhi Capitals will hope is that there isn't a lot of swing on offer for Mohammed Shami to exploit at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.

The way Shami bowled in Gujarat Titans' first match of IPL 2022 was a sight for the sore eyes. It was high-quality test match bowling from the Indian speedster as he went past the defense of KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock and Manish Pandey -- all three of whom are highly regarded batters.

Would Aaron get another go?

Gujarat do have to think about Varun Aaron who was a bit wayward in the first match. They do have the options of Pradeep Sangwan, Jayant Yadav and R Sai Kishore on the bench but the Hardik Pandya-led side is likely to give Aaron another opportunity.

Lalit, Axar's rescue act

Delhi had a disappointing start in their batting innings against Mumbai Indians in their first match of the competition which they ended up winning by 4 wickets.

The team was reeling at 72 for 5 and they would have gone down had it not been for the rearguard effort from Lalit Yadav, Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel.

Delhi's personnel

Delhi's top order, comprising Prithvi Shaw, Tim Seifert and Rishabh Pant, has quite exciting players who want to put the bowling attack under pressure right away but they must ensure that it does not lead to batting collapses.

In the absence of David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Lungi Ngidi, Mustafizur Rahman and Anrich Nortje, Delhi are slightly weak in terms of the personnel they can pick from. However, the way Kuldeep Yadav bowled in the last match would certainly come as a relief for them.

Shardul Thakur and Kamlesh Nagarkoti though will have to pull up their socks.

Head coach Ricky Ponting will note that Gujarat Titans have a slightly weak batting line up and if they can put some pressure on openers Subhuman Gill and Matthew Wade, the team can find openings to work with.

Predicted Playing XIs

Gujarat Titans - Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade (wk), Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Aaron, Mohammed Shami

Delhi Capitals - Prithvi Shaw, Tim Seifert, Mandeep Singh, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Rovman Powell, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav, Kamlesh Nagarkoti

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