All eyes will be on the returning Rishabh Pant leading Delhi Capitals as they open their campaign in the first afternoon game of 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) against Punjab Kings in their new home ground at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, the 36th venue in IPL history.

Pant, who survived a near fatal car crash in December 2022, and underwent three ligament reconstructions in his right knee, recovered six months sooner than expected, and is now hours away from walking out as Delhi Capitals’ captain on Saturday.

As BCCI secretary Jay Shah had earlier pointed out that Pant’s performance in the IPL will be monitored closely for a smoother return to the Indian team that will fly to the US and the West Indies to play the T20 World Cup, just a week after the IPL final, it will be interesting to see whether Pant can find his match fitness quickly.

While the wicketkeeper-batter has played several practice matches at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru before getting the clearance to play the IPL, it could be a different ball game when he takes the field in a competitive tournament for the first time after the accident.

“Jittery, nervous, excited- all of it, but at the same time, just happy, being able to come back to professional cricket. I’m just looking forward to playing my first game tomorrow,” Pant expressed at a pre-match press conference.

“Every time I take the field, it’s a different feeling altogether. I just wanted to bat as much as I could and get better every day. I don’t think much ahead, I take one day at a time, and give my 100%,” stated an optimistic Pant.

The Delhi Capitals will be hoping for a sound opening start from the opening combo of David Warner and Prithvi Shaw, with Mitchell Marsh, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Ricky Bhui adding to the late order flourish. In the bowling department, veteran Ishant Sharma is expected to lead the attack with Lalit Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav and Khalil Ahmed.

As for the Punjab Kings, whose only final appearance came way back in 2014, will be aiming to shed their perennial underachievers tag this season. As such, the Shikhar Dhawan-led side will hope for a fresh start at their new home base in Mullanpur.

Overall, in head-to-head meetings, Delhi Capitals have won 15 of the 32 matches against Punjab Kings, but in the last two years, they have won five of six. Punjab finished eighth out of 10 teams last year.

The Kings will be bolstered by the return of English wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow, who missed IPL 2023 because of an injury, and the elevation of Jitesh Sharma as the vice-captain of the side would put additional responsibility on him besides strengthening the middle-order batting. They can plug the holes by playing either Shashank Singh or Ashutosh Sharma, who are both aggressive batters, known for hitting sixes.

Liam Livingstone, one of the key players in the Punjab Kings line-up said the team will take forward the positives from the last season, and are getting used to the new playing conditions that allow the fast bowlers two bouncers in IPL 2024.

“We did a lot of good things last season. We were in the running for a Playoffs spot until the last couple of games. We’ve had 5-6 training sessions to get used to the conditions here at the new stadium. We retained most of our players from last season and everyone’s excited for the challenges that lie ahead of us,” said Livingstone.

While the T20 format is tilted in favour of the batters, Livingstone believes two bouncers per over give bowlers more options. “Playing a bouncer is something that you have to got to do as a batter in T20 cricket. Whether they can bowl one or two in an over, I don’t think it really matters. If it is coming at your head you have to find a way to hit it for six and our job as a batter is to develop the skill to be able to do that,” he said.

“Instead of trying to hit a yorker for six, you try to hit a bouncer for six because bowlers have got more options now. It will be more effective on bigger grounds. I am not too sure how many bouncers bowlers would want to bowl on a smaller ground with good wicket, we will see,” said the Punjab Kings batter.

As far as their pace department is concerned, Kagiso Rabada will spearhead the attack in the company of left-armer Arshdeep Singh. Harshal Patel, the new addition to the side, will hope to repay the faith in him with his slower bouncers.