IPL 2024: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today's DC vs SRH match

After almost half of the IPL 2024 season, when patterns have started emerging and there are calculated guesses on which four teams can qualify, we are entering another unexpected territory in the form of the Arun Jaitely Stadium.

The Delhi ground will host its first game of the season on Saturday between home team Delhi Capitals (DC) and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH).

It's so unpredictable because, in IPL 2023, the pitch was a slow and low rank-turner that didn't even support David Warner's team balance. A lot of work was done by the authorities and by the time of the 2023 World Cup, it became one of the best batting tracks - perhaps even a bit too good - in the country.

But the fact that DC said the pitch needed some time after the conclusion of the Women's Premier League (WPL) suggests that the team knows they need good batting surfaces, similar to what they had in their alternate venue in Vizag.

Below, we have made predictions on which three bowlers could pick the most wickets on such a track, considering their form, pedigree and so on:

#3 T Natarajan

Despite not playing a few games, T Natarajan has been one of SRH's most reliable bowlers across conditions and opponents in IPL 2024. That's mostly because of his versatile skills. He can use the early available movement with the new ball and can hit the best yorkers in SRH at the death.

He has previously picked up five wickets in six matches in Delhi at an economy rate of 6.9, which is his best for any opponent in the IPL. The left-arm seamer would be the best suited to exploit DC's lower-order weaknesses which have already been exposed a few times this year.

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#2 Pat Cummins

There were a lot of questions regarding Pat Cummins' T20 bowling skills when SRH made him their captain for IPL 2024. But so far, with nine wickets in six games, he has presented himself as a flat-pitch beast.

And he does all that by having specific plans for each batter and executing them better than most. This is exactly what he showed against RCB. When about 550 runs were scored in the game, he picked up three wickets for 43 runs.

The same would likely be required in Delhi on Saturday and he'll enjoy the battle against fellow Australians David Warner and Jake Fraser-McGurk. Cummins has also enjoyed good returns against Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw in the IPL.

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#1 Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav has played a massive role in DC's ability to not spiral to the last positions in IPL 2024. After missing a couple of games due to injury, he returned with a three-wicket haul against Lucknow Super Giants.

His role was limited because of how well the DC pacers bowled against the Gujarat Titans and now, Kuldeep should enjoy a return to Delhi. Although most of his wickets here have come when the conditions have favored spin, Kuldeep is better than most spinners on flat tracks.

Just like Cummins, he can specifically tackle each batter and while leading the line for DC, that ability gets even better.