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Daredevils takes on Rajasthan Royals

Vijay Lokapally

— Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

KEEN LISTENERS: Kids interact with Glenn McGrath after a practice session in New Delhi on Friday.

NEW DELHI: Not far from the Ferozeshah Kotla is an open space that gets converted into a cricket field every Sunday. For close to three decades now, clubs have been engaged in some intense clashes at this venue, near the historic Red Fort, each innings played over 20 overs.

The concept has now moved to the Kotla, which has a rich history of its own. When it is illuminated under floodlights on Saturday, the Kotla, venue of the Delhi Daredevils-Rajasthan Royals contest of the Indian Premier League, will usher in a new era of the game’s latest version.

New image

What those kids did on the cricket field near the Red Fort will now be enacted by the players who have been paid fabulous amounts to give cricket a new image.

The IPL is expected to parade a galaxy of internationals, some of them retired and some on the verge of retirement.

The emphasis is on entertainment. Cheer girls and music, painted faces in the galleries and brightly-attired players… the game has witnessed some revolutionary changes on and off the field.

Shane Warne will signify the rapid transformation when he steps out of retirement to lead Rajasthan Royals in a format he has little experience in.

In Warne’s opposite camp will be his compatriot and another legend, Glenn McGrath, who too has had little to do with Twenty20 cricket.

Big names to miss game

The first match at the Kotla will not see the foreign signings. A.B. de Villiers, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Asif, Tillekeratne Dilshan and Abdur Razzak in the Delhi team, and Graeme Smith, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Morne Morkel and Dimitri Mascarenhas in the Rajasthan side will not be playing due to their prior commitments at home.

When Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir swing their bats at the Kotla, among the audience could be some of those kids from the Red Fort ground. In their appreciation lies the future of the IPL.

The teams (from):

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (Capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Tiwary, Daniel Vettori, Dinesh Karthik, Glenn McGrath, Farveez Maharoof, Pradeep Sangwan, Brett Geeves, Rajat Bhatia, Shikhar Dhawan, Yo Mahesh, Mithun Manhas, Mayank Tehlan, Amit Mishra, Tejasvi Yadav and Yogesh Nagar.

Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (Capt.), Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Kaif, Darren Lehmann, Munaf Patel, Justin Langer, Shane Watson, Siddharth Trivedi, Taruwar Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Pankaj Singh, Swapnil Asnodkar, Neeraj Patel, Mahesh Rawat, Sumit Khatri, Dinesh Salunkhe, Jaydev Shah, Aditya Angle, Parag More and Anup Revandkar.

Umpires: G. A. Pratap Kumar and Aleem Dar; Third umpire: Ian Howell.

Match begins at 8.30 p.m.

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