Familiarity breeds contest as Sanga takes on Mahela

I am a massive Steyn fan8230; He has helped me quite a lot with my game and it is fantastic playing with him, Morkel said on the eve of the game.

This may well have been Kumar Sangakkara talking about Mahela Jayawardene or vice versa.

Similar to the Morkel-Steyn partnership is the one between Sangakkara and Jayawardene. The Sri Lankan duo are fourth on the list of overall partnership in Tests with 5,713 runs to their name but will plot the others downfall. When captains Sangakkara Sunrisers and Jayawardene Daredevils walk out for the toss,both will hope that their respective South African bowling spearheads deliver.

Teammates,rivals

The IPL and other Twenty20 leagues that have sprouted around the world provide for match-ups between players who would otherwise have shared dressing rooms. On Thursday evening at the Kotla,it was hard to ignore the strong and long-standing bonds between teammates-turned-rivals and coaches who have migrated and their former wards,as they practiced simultaneously in adjacent nets of the Daredevils and the Sunrisers.

Jayawardene and Sangakkara wont be the only two Sri Lankans on opposite team sheets. All-rounders Thisara Perera Sunrisers and Jeevan Mendis Daredevils are rivals led by the senior Sri Lankans.

During practice on Thursday,Sunrisers Ishant Sharma would have noticed the familiar figure of Eric Simons,Daredevils coach. Ishant and Simons have spent hours together at the Team India nets when the South African was Indias bowling coach for over three years. Turn the clock further back and Tom Moody,the Sunrisers coach,and Daredevils skipper Jayawardene,go back a long way 8211; the 2007 World Cup final to be precise when both were runners-up when holding similar positions for Sri Lanka. Incidentally,Moody was in charge of Kings XI for the first two seasons when Sangakkara and Jayawardene also turned out for the Punjab outfit.

Talking of first-hand knowledge,Ishants strengths and weaknesses can be discussed at length in the Daredevils camp by not only Simons but also Virender Sehwag and Ashish Nehra both of whom have watched Ishants development from close quarters. The Sunrisers Delhi connection isnt restricted to just Sharma. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra too has donned Daredevils colours earlier before moving to Deccan Chargers,now the Hyderabad Sunrisers.

A former Charger Y Venugopala Rao broke away from the Daredevils practice area to greet Hanuma Vihari and Ashish Reddy. Both these youngsters play for Sunrisers and hail from Andhra Pradesh.

By the time practice wound down it was Daredevils skipper Jaywardenes turn to catch up with his Lankan teammate,Sunrisers Perera. Jayawardene,yet to taste success after three games,was involved in an animated discussion with his coaching staff,including Simons and spin bowling consultant Mushtaq Ahmed,when Perera walked by. As the two Sri Lankans indulged in small talk,a smile temporarily replaced the frown on the face of the beleaguered Daredevils skipper.