Dubai: Delhi Daredevils' preparations for IPL V, which starts on Wednesday, are underway at the Ferozshah Kotla ground under the watchful eyes of their Head Coach Eric Simons and Team Mentor T.A. Sekar.
Speaking to Gulf News, Sekar, who has played a pivotal role in building the team for the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League, said: "We have included some of the great names of the game who can dominate the bowling, especially in the first few overs."
Delhi are giving a lot of importance this year to fitness, especially with a battery of the best pacers in the team. Their team physiotherapist Kirk Russell has done a screening of players for strength and mobility ahead of their first match. Incidentally, Russell was with the England team for more than a decade and through more than 100 Tests and 100 One Day Internationals.
"We have a great finisher in Mahela Jayawardene and he has been appointed as deputy to [captain Virender] Sehwag. We also have picked some of the finest domestic cricket players," added Sekar, who is known for his ability to spot talent and is one of India's finest bowling coaches.
In fact, he has picked the best bowling attack. South African Morne Morkel is expected to spearhead the attack, along with Indian pacers Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron and Avishkar Salvi. The spotlight will be on Yadav and Aaron as they are now considered India's genuine quickies.
Aaron is still recovering from an injury and may miss a few matches. Doug Bracewell is another useful addition to the pace attack.
The domestic players who have arrived in Delhi for the practice sessions are Venugopal Rao, Aavishkar Salvi, Shahbaz Nadeem and Prashant Naik, as well as Manprit Juneja, Kuldeep Raval, Sunny Gupta and Zafir Patel, who will play their first season with the Daredevils.
Delhi will play their first match against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday [April 5].
The purchase of Jayawardene, who can anchor the innings and steadily accelerate the run-rate, and Kevin Pietersen, who displayed tremendous form in the UAE one-day series against Pakistan, are expected to play huge roles in the coming matches.
With Andre Russell and Ross Taylor too, Delhi look a fine all-round unit. But Jayawardene and Pietersen are set to miss the initial games as Sri Lanka and England are slated to play a Test.
