Lucknow Super Giants will fancy their chances against a struggling Mumbai Indians bowling unit.
Skipper Rishabh Pant (234 from nine games) showed glimpses of his destructive power but the team would want more from its skipper who is more than capable of hammering any attack into submission.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed an unbeaten 18 off six balls to power Chennai Super Kings into the IPL final.
It was CSK who denied Delhi a top-two spot in the league standings with a crushing 80-run win at Chepauk and the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side stands in their way again, only the stakes are much higher.
However, Rajasthan would be a bit more desperate than Delhi as they are languishing at the second last position in the points table with just three wins from nine outings.
Images from Tuesday's IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab, in Dubai.
The former Australian spinner has straight away included both Ajinkya Rahane and Steve Smith in Delhi Capitals' probable playing XI and expects the top four batsmen to drive in fourth gear right from the word go.
How Rishabh Pant performs as skipper will be watched with interest
'Pant is a very big part of our plans going ahead in next few months'
Seeking home comforts after multiple reverses at the Ferozshah Kotla, Delhi Capitals will be desperate to buck the trend when they take on a rejuvenated Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League, in Delhi, on Saturday.
The 42-year-old, who last played for India in 2019, had undergone a knee surgery last year.
Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya looks back on the victory over Delhi Capitals in Saturday's IPL match in Pune.
New 'Captain Cool' in Town: Shreyas Iyer could be the leader India needs
Sam Curran claimed a hat-trick as Kings Xi Punjab pulled off a miraculous 14-run victory against Delhi Capitals.
'After returning from Australia, I worked with my coach Prashant Shetty sir and also Pravin Amre sir before going to the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and it worked quite well. I played my natural game in Vijay Hazare Trophy, but I made a small technical change. After that, it's going well.'
Chennai Super Kings will launch their Indian Premier League (IPL) title defence against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday
Workload management of pacer Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Hardik Pandya will be the focus when Mumbai Indians take on a renamed Delhi Capitals in their first match of the 12th Indian Premier League in Mumbai on Sunday.
Images from the IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals, in Ahmedabad, on Tuesday.
Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting is aware that it might be possible to retain only three to four players before IPL's mega auction but given a chance he would love to enter the next season with almost the same team he has now.
Skipper Virat Kohli said the manner in which his side beat Delhi Capitals will give Royal Challengers Bangalore "the confidence to pull off a game from any situation" in the IPL play-offs.
Images from Monday's IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, in Dubai.
Ishant Sharma dazzled with a three wicket haul to power DC to a 19 run win over LSG.
Shubman Gill steps into the limelight as the fifth-youngest Indian captain in the IPL's 16-year history.
'We believed it was a winning total and it looked like it for a long time, they started well and had all the momentum, they had some quality players, as expected on this wicket we squeezed them back and got ourselves ahead, we weren't very clinical with the catching or in our bowling, we weren't great today'
He struck an imperious 84 off just 46 balls which included six fours and four sixes -- his highest T20 score.
DC demanded that the third ball be called a no ball for height but the umpires stood their ground
Defending champions Mumbai lost to Delhi Capitals by four wickets and now need to win their remaining two games and hope for favourable results from the other matches to make the play-offs.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians claimed their fifth Indian Premier League title after romping to a five-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals in Tuesday's final in Dubai.
Rajat Patidar and Axar Patel struck half-centuries in a match dominated by the bowlers.
Andre Russell endured a beamer blow but still produced a blistering knock to lift Kolkata to a fighting 185 for 8 against Delhi Capitals in an IPL match, in New Delhi, on Saturday.
Delhi Capitals team Director Sourav Ganguly didn't want to be harsh on the basis of one game.
Rishabh happy to buck 'win-loss' trend
efending champions Chennai Super Kings produced a clinical performance to beat Delhi Capitals by six wickets and enter their eighth final of the Indian Premier League.
Shreyas Iyer smacked seven sixes and eight fours in his unbeaten 38-ball 88 to help the team post 228
KKR's Rinku Singh was unlucky not to make it to India's 15-member T20 World Cup squad as he made it as one of the reserves.
Shreyas Iyer, who led KKR to the IPL 2024 title, could be headed for the players' auction after failing to make a breakthrough in negotiations, while K L Rahul is also unlikely to be retained by LSG.
The Capitals, which finished third last year, will start their campaign against Kings XI Punjab on Sunday and both Ponting and skipper Shreyas Iyer agreed that R Ashwin and Rahane have been great additions to the young side with their experience.
Having someone of Dhoni's calibre put his trust in me was massive for me, says Ngidi
The BCCI's retention and auction rules ensure that franchises will have to make careful decisions to balance retaining star power with building depth across their squads.
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