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

Delhi Capitals (DC) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) have had to deal with weird schedules in IPL 2024, with most of their group stage jam-packed into the first few weeks. It wasn't a surprise, then, that both teams looked jaded against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), respectively, and lost.

Now that they have had time to rest and recover ahead of a meeting in Delhi on Tuesday, they can shift their focus back on the task ahead. RR would be looking to get back to the top spot and avoid any last-minute slips in the season. DC simply need the win to stay in the playoffs race and to take advantage of SRH and Lucknow Supergiants (LSG)'s recent losses.

Both teams would hope that their bowling attacks, which similarly struggled in the last games, would be back to their best, even if it's at a pitch that has the highest batting run rate for any venue in IPL 2024.

Below are our predictions of three bowlers who can pick up the most wickets and why:

#3 Trent Boult

RR left-arm pacer Trent Boult is not having his best season in the IPL. He has struggled to make a consistent impact and hasn't found his usual rhythm either. But all that could change against DC. Like with Mumbai Indians (MI), Boult has always reserved his best performances for matches against his old team DC.

He has 14 wickets in 10 matches against the franchise at an average of 20 - which is his second-best for any opponent in the tournament. The Kiwi has also taken at least a wicket in 15 out of 16 IPL matches at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Jake Fraser-McGurk is yet to be tested against quality left-arm pace in IPL 2024 while the other top-order batters (David Warner, Abhishek Porel, Prithvi Shaw, and so on) have struggled against the swinging new ball all season.

If Boult manages to get some confidence early on, he can create the biggest impact of the season.

#2 Kuldeep Yadav

DC wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also lost a bit of form in the last two matches of IPL 2024 but a return to Delhi after the break should put him in a good position against RR. For, despite the flatness of the wicket, he has often taken big scalps here, including a four-wicket haul against SRH earlier in the season.

Kuldeep took a four-fer against RR, too, back in 2018 when he was playing for KKR. He has an average of 27.33 against the franchise and has got the wickets of both Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson previously.

He would also enjoy the fact that RR's lower-middle order is not settled, giving him a good chance of a big haul.

#1 Sandeep Sharma

Right-arm pacer Sandeep Sharma has been RR's best bowler since his comeback, taking eight wickets in the last three games.

DC's batting order has grown increasingly uncertain in IPL 2024 with a lot of shuffling and the last thing you want against Sandeep is batters who are not sure about their plans. He's the master of deception and can run through middle and lower orders by keeping it tight on the flattest of tracks.

DC have been facing his wrath for years, since the time that the RR captain Samson was with them. Sandeep has 19 wickets in 17 matches against them at an average of 23.89. If the hosts' middle order isn't careful, the pacer could significantly add to that tally on Tuesday.