Both sides failed to make the playoffs last season with just two wins in seven games. This is also the seventh time Dragons and Warriors will face off as DD won four of the six head-to-head. Trichy Warriors, however, won the last encounter played in TNPL 2022.
Baba Indrajith was bought at the TNPL auction and was soon named the captain of Dindigul Dragons as the franchise hoped the player will bring his last season’s form to TNPL 2023. Vimal Khumar, who made the most out of the rare opportunity handed to him last season, is expected to play a bigger role.
There still remains a question over the form of middle-order batters Shivam Singh and S Arun as they haven’t performed well recently. This makes the presence of R Ashwin important, who returns home after IPL and national team stints.
Bowling is surely not a headache for the Dindigul Dragons with Varun Chakravarthy adding to spin strength with Ashwin. The pace department is a bit of a concern with G Kishoor the only pacer that shows them in good light. The likes of Subodh Bhati made little impact over the last season.
For Trichy Warriors, Ganga Sridhar Raju holds importance top of the order after the batter starred for Kovai Kings last season. Daryl Ferrario is expected to be of help if he founds some consistency in his performance while Akshay Srinivasan and Jafer Jamal will be hoping to bounce back after dismal shows last season.
Pacer T Natarajan will be leading the bowling unit while the likes of R Silambarasan, Anthony Davidson, and R Alexander are expected to bring their form from the last season.
DD vs RTW predicted playing 11
DD predicted playing 11 Vimal Khumar, Baba Indrajith (C), Shivam Singh, S Arun, R Ashwin, Adithya Ganesh, Hemanth Kumar, Advaith Sharma, M Mathivanan, Varun Chakravarthy, G Kishoor
RTW predicted playing 11 K Easwaran (C), V Ganga Sridhar Raju, Jafar Jamal, A Srinivasan, Daryl Ferrario, R Rajkumar, M Shajahan, K Mani Bharathi(wk), R Alexander, K-Mohamed Azeem, T Natarajan
Dindigul Dragons vs Ruby Trichy Warriors squads
Dindigul Dragons Baba Indrajith (c & wk), S Arun, Hemanth Kumar, Vimal Khumar, Boopathi Kumar, Adithya Ganesh, ME Tamil Dhileepan, Affan Khader, Rohan Bhutra, C Sarath Kumar, P Vignesh, Ravichandran Ashwin, VP Diran, G Kishoor, M Mathivannan, Varun Chakaravarthy, P Saravana Kumar, Advaith Sharma, Shivam Singh, Suboth Bhati
Ruby Trichy Warriors Ganga Sridhar Raju (c), Mani Bharathi (wk), Daryl Ferrario, Jafar Jamal, P Francis Rokins, Akshay Srinivasan, T Saran, K Easwaran, M Shajahan, R Rajkumar, SP Vinod, G Godson, Karaparambil Monish, Antony Dhas, R Alexander, T Natarajan, V Athisayaraj Davidson, R Silambarasan, Karthik Shanmugam, K Mohamed Azeem
