Pace-heavy Daredevils look to change fortunes

Likely first-choice XI

Sam Billings, Shreyas Iyer*, Sanju Samson, Corey Anderson, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant (wk), Chris Morris, Mohammed Shami, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan (capt), Kagiso Rabada

Reserves

Batsmen - Aditya Tare, Ankit Bawne, Shashank Singh

Bowlers - Pat Cummins, Shahbaz Nadeem, Khaleel Ahmed, M Ashwin, Chama Milind, Navdeep Saini, Pratyush Singh

Allrounders - Carlos Brathwaite, Angelo Mathews, Jayant Yadav

Strengths

A strong bowling attack and a good mix of match-winning allrounders. Daredevils could potentially have six full-time bowlers in the XI. Even with their best selections, they will have to bench some top players, making for strong bench strength.

Weaknesses

Their batting seems depleted, and will be hit further as Shreyas Iyer recuperates from chickenpox - subsequently, he will miss at least the first week of the league. The middle order will heavily feature domestic talent, some of whom are excellent players, but it lacks firepower. Zaheer Khan will lead them again, but he has not played competitive cricket since the last IPL and at 38, is one of the oldest players in the tournament. While Corey Anderson started bowling again only recently, in short spells, in domestic matches in New Zealand, Angelo Mathews is under an injury cloud after missing the ODIs against Bangladesh.

Daredevils are spoilt for choice when it comes to fast bowlers but they will have to pick their bowling attack wisely. If they are to play two spinners out of three - Amit Mishra, Jayant Yadav and Shahbaz Nadeem - they will probably have to leave out Mohammed Shami. If that does not happen, they could end up with five quicks, including allrounders, and one spinner, which could affect variety and team balance.

Where they finished in 2016, and what's different this year?

Sixth out of eight teams, their best finish since making the playoffs in 2012.

Imran Tahir was the most high-profile talent released by Daredevils. They spent most of their purse in shoring up an already strong overseas contingent comprising Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy and Chris Morris. They will miss de Kock, who is out injured, and Duminy, who pulled out due to personal reasons, but have ample cover with the signings of Anderson, Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada, who was their most expensive buy at INR 5 crores. They also acquired legspinner M Ashwin, who showed promise last year.

What have their players been up to?

• Rabada and Shami appear to be Daredevils' most likely new-ball duo. The former, in his most recent international appearance, took four wickets even as his team was flattened by New Zealand in the Hamilton Test. In the preceding one-day series, he was the highest wicket-taker from either side, with an average of 17 and an economy rate of 4.22. Shami recently returned after a four-month layoff due to hamstring injury and took four wickets for Bengal in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final against victors Tamil Nadu.
• With 124 wickets, Mishra is the second-highest wicket-taker in IPL history. He was impressive in the T20 internationals against England at the start of the year, taking 2 for 48 in his combined eight overs across two games. It was also his last competitive appearance.
• Morris' ability to pick wickets and seamlessly clear the boundary will once again make him one of Daredevils' many MVPs. He only shone in parts during the New Zealand ODIs and was subsequently released from the Test squad. Come IPL, though, Daredevils may find him more useful.
• Several of Daredevils' local players have grabbed eyeballs over the last few months. Rishabh Pant had his breakout Ranji season that led to a T20 international debut; Shahbaz Nadeem was the tournament's highest wicket-taker, Jayant Yadav played his part in India's golden home season as an allrounder, and Karun Nair became only the second Test triple-centurion from India. Following their phenomenal achievements, there will be more expectations from all of them.

Overseas-player availability

Anderson will be unavailable for the final three matches as he will travel to Ireland for a triangular series also involving Bangladesh. Billings will be absent for the second half. And if Daredevils make the playoffs, they could also miss Morris and Rabada as South Africa travel to England. They are also yet to name replacements for de Kock and Duminy.

Home and away record in 2016

Daredevils fared almost equally well both home and away. They won four and lost three at home. The figures were the opposite away. They maintained a proud record at their original home - the Feroz Shah Kotla - where they won three of their five matches and lost one of them by one run. They then shifted base to Raipur for their final two fixtures. Thumping wins against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Lions made for memorable highlights from their away campaign.

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*6.00GMT, April 5: The preview has been updated with the news of Shreyas Iyer's illness.