Delhi Capitals have been the team to beat in IPL 2021, with Rishabh Pant doing a brilliant job leading the franchise in Shreyas Iyer's absence. But all that was before a Covid outbreak in the IPL bio-bubble led to the postponement of the tournament. Iyer is back but Pant will continue to lead the side, at least for the remainder of this season. Delhi will be hoping to pick up things from where they left off in India and their first test comes in the form of bottom-placed SunRisers Hyderabad on Wednesday.
While DC were the form team in the first phase in India, SRH endured a nightmare. The team had just one win under their belt from seven games.
SRH's dreadful showing cost David Warner his captaincy and he was replaced by Kane Williamson before the tournament was halted.
The Covid-enforced break, however, came at the right time for SRH. The team has now had time regroup and will be hoping a change of scenery brings about a change in fortunes.
Before the UAE restart, SRH were dealt a massive blow as England star Jonny Bairstow pulled out of the tournament.
The Englishman is the top-scorer for SRH this season with 248 runs in seven matches, boasting a strike-rate of 141.71. SRH have added West Indies batsman Sherfane Rutherford to their squad following Bairstow's withdrawal.
Rashid Khan will once again hold the key for SRH when it comes to bowling but others will need to provide him support. Bhuvneshwar Kumar seems to be getting back to his best and that will be good news for the Hyderabad franchise.
Ahead of Wednesday's game, there was a COVID-19 scare in the SRH camp as T Nataraj tested positive for the virus and went into isolation. Teammate Vijay Shankar, deemed a close contact of Natarajan, also went into isolation.
However, the rest of the squad tested negative and the match will go ahead as a result.
Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, had a lot of things going right for them in the India leg of IPL 2021. They would be hoping to recapture that form, and nothing would be better than putting down an early marker in the UAE.
Delhi are currently level on 12 points with league leaders Chennai Super Kings but have an inferior run-rate to MS Dhoni's team. A win against SRH will put Delhi on top at least till CSK play next.