Rajasthan Royals will take a lot of confidence after snatching a two-run victory from the jaws of defeat against Punjab Kings.
Up against Delhi Capitals, RCB will need to address their middle-order woes, to return to winning ways, in what could be touted as a battle of equals.
The Punjab bowlers led by Kagiso Rabada have fared well. But the likes of Vaibhav Arora, Arshdeep Singh along with Rahul Chahar, who has nine wickets, would need to be on the money.
Delhi Capitals will aim to solve their opening conundrum quickly and boost their chances of making it to the IPL play-offs when they take on a lacklustre Chennai Super Kings at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.
Delhi Capitals need to win all their remaining three matches to keep their hopes alive of making it to the IPL 2022 play-offs.
Delhi Capitals will expect more from their batters after an underwhelming display in their previous outing, while Lucknow Super Giants are eager to shrug off overdependence on skipper KL Rahul when the teams clash in the IPL match in Mumbai on Sunday.
Rahul and Pant, both match-winners in their own rights even with the bat, will like to seize the initiative in these early rounds.
For a team that looked at ease all along, it was their first defeat in the UAE leg -- and three from 11 matches this season -- as Delhi struggled to get going against KKR bowlers who made full use of the slow surface after opting to bowl.
Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, have done an excellent job in restricting the oppositions but KKR's top-order batting has hurt them the most.
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.
As coach Ricky Ponting pointed out, he would expect a better "on his feet" thinking from the young captain.
Defending champions Karnataka also remained in the hunt for the last-eight berth, securing a five-wicket win over Uttar Pradesh that took their net run-rate to 0.292.
Dhoni's men will have to adapt to the conditions quickly to avoid any such hiccup in the play-offs.
Full list of players released, retained and traded by all ten teams in the IPL.
SunRisers Hyderabad has the biggest purse while Kolkata Knight Riders has the slimmest purse.
For any bowling unit, facing the Dhawan-Shaw duo is a scary proposition.
Rishabh Pant's brute power will be put to test against Rashid Khan's bagful of tricks in an IPL encounter where Delhi Capitals will start as favourites against SunRisers Hyderabad due to their better bowling resources.
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Eyeing a maiden IPL title, the fancied Delhi Capitals will face another litmus test in the form of a Kolkata Knight Riders unit brimming with optimism when the two sides lock horns in the Qualifier 2 match in Sharjah on Wednesday.
Delhi's strong batting line up of Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith and Pant himself will look to fire on all cylinders right from the opening game.
Capitals were the best team in the league and their 20-point finish at the group stage was an indication of their consistent performances which didn't dip due to the COVID-19 forced break. CSK, over the years, have been in final eight times and won on three occasions which speak volumes of the team's ability to lift their game just when it's required most.
Thrust into the leadership role, a completely transformed Rishabh Pant carries a lot of hope and responsibility on his shoulders as Delhi Capitals aim to build on the success of the last edition in the UAE, where they finished runners-up to Mumbai Indians.
While DC made a superb start under new captain Rishabh Pant, RR suffered a four-run defeat against Punjab Kings
In other big movements, Punjab Kings have released their last edition's captain Mayank Agarwal, while West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals, in Dubai, on Monday.
A battle royale is in the offing as heavyweights Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals clash in a high-profile IPL encounter, in Chennai, on Tuesday.
Krunal Pandya's all-round show helped Baroda beat Uttarakhand by five runs in their opening game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, in Vadodara, on Sunday.
Devdutt Padikkal sent a strong message to the national selectors before England ODIs as he slammed his fourth consecutive List 'A' ton as Karnataka beat Kerala by 80 runs
Shubham Pundir top-scored with 42 to take J&K to 139 for eight in 20 overs.
Images from Sunday's second IPL match, between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals, in Mumbai.
590 cricketers -- including 370 Indian players and 220 overseas players -- will go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.
