Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils have come here power-packed and with a variety of ingredients to make the DLF-IPL's debut memorable at Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium here on Monday.
The sheer magic of Shane Warne's artful leg spin and the savage swings of the willow by Yusuf Pathan are sufficient attractions for the cricket crazy people who throng the venue for the first of the four IPL entertainment shows here at Motera.
Not one to be far removed from daredevil-type action, Virender Sehwag should whet the appetite of a legion of his followers, his duel with Shaun Tait in particular.
Gautam Gambhir, in-form with the bat steering his side to a comfortable victory against Kings XI Punjab, AB de Villiers and Tilakaratne Dilshan have the potential to send the pulse racing.
The Royals who will play three of the seven home matches at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, have opted to play four ‘home' matches at the Motera, where Warne has played a one-day international of tri-series against Zimbabwe. That was a dozen years ago.
Warne may have already picked the brains of locals and Royals' squad members Niraj Patel and Siddharth Trivedi on the nature of the pitch, outfield and the amount of dew fall after the twilight hours.
It's possible that the local association would go out of the way to prepare a surface that will benefit the Royals' attack.
Warne was thrilled at Pathan's breathtaking 37-ball 100 with 17 short and big boundary shots that lit up the Brabourne Stadium that in a matter of a few overs played on the nerves of the Mumbai Indians. But the Australian would be keen and eager to notch a first win within the first week of the competition.
Until Shane Watson arrives, the Royals' thin bowling resources will be targeted by batsmen.
Dhiraj Parsana, in-charge of the ground here said: “Twenty20 or a one-day match, it will be a good batting track. We are equipped to lessen the impact of dew fall. Anyway it's not been heavy in the last week.
