watch Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab live streaming at Cape Town

What they lacked was a backbone in the team, a sure shot match winner at number five or six, who would help the chase down targets, and even build the innings depending on a good or bad start to the innings. That was to prove their major failing when they were eventually knocked off their perch in the semis last time around.

Plus one of the pillars of their bowling attack, Mohd. Asif doped his way to glory and Glenn McGrath was initially unsure about his return this year. More than that, Daniel Vettori will be playing the full season this time round and while that is indeed great news for the management, this will cause many problems for the team balance, keeping in mind the four foreigners limit for the playing eleven.

watch Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab live streaming

Squad: Virender Sehwg (captain & ICON), Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Ashish Nehra, Amit Mishra, Aavishkar Salvi, Manoj Tiwary, Mithun Manhas, Pradeep Sangwan, Rajat Bhatia, Tejashwi Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh, Yogesh Nagar, Paul Collingwood, Farveez Maharoof, Andrew McDonald, Glenn McGrath, Owais Shah, Dirk Nannes, Tilakratne Dilshan, David Warner, AB de Villiers, Daniel Vettori.

Analysis: One look, last year, at the squad of the DareDevils from Delhi showed that they did not really have a well balanced team. Instead, they had some really good players who are well known exponents in their respective arts. In Sehwag and Gambhir, they boast of two very fine batsmen at the top of the order and some equally gifted bowlers in McGrath and Maharoof who could strangle any batting line-up at any given time. What they lacked was a backbone in the team, a sure shot match winner at number five or six, who would help the chase down targets, and even build the innings depending on a good or bad start to the innings. That was to prove their major failing when they were eventually knocked off their perch in the semis last time around.