IPL 2020: Delhi Capitals to lock horns with Kings XI Punjab in opening tie

Delhi Capitals bought eight new players at the 2020 IPL Player's Auction and spent Rs 18.85 crore in total.

Joining the bandwagon of franchises releasing their individual schedules for the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL), Delhi Capitals have also announced their complete fixtures for the league stage of the upcoming T20 tournament. 

Taking to their official Twitter handle, the Delhi-based franchise revealed that they will kickstart their campaign at the 13th edition of the IPL against Kings XI Punjab at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on March 30. 

Delhi Capitals also asked the fans of the franchise to come in blue in order to showcase their support to them. 

"FIXTURES UPDATE. From starting our #IPL2020 with the #NorthernDerby at home to some pulsating weekend clashes, our fixtures this season look. Dilliwalon, #NeelaPehenKeAana hai aur roar machana hai #IPLSchedule #ThisIsNewDelhi #YehHaiNayiDilli #DelhiCapitals," the Shreyas Iyer-led side wrote along with the picture of the schedule. 

 FIXTURES UPDATE 

From starting our #IPL2020 with the #NorthernDerby at home to some pulsating weekend clashes, our fixtures this season look 

Dilliwalon, #NeelaPehenKeAana hai aur roar machana hai  #IPLSchedule #ThisIsNewDelhi #YehHaiNayiDilli #DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/7bmIJ9skR5 — Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) February 16, 2020

Just like other teams, Delhi are also scheduled to play a total of 14 league games in the 2020 IPL, with the franchise's last league clash also be taking place against Punjab on May 16.

However, there is a big change in the schedule this year as the IPL has done away with doubleheaders on Saturdays. This means, six doubleheaders--which are scheduled to take place this season--will be held only on Sundays.

In order to accommodate the extra matches, the league stage will now last six weeks instead of five. While the playoffs schedule for the 2020 IPL will be announced later, the summit showdown will take place on May 24.

Notably, Delhi Capitals are one of the only three teams--the others being Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore-- who are yet to clinch the IPL title.  

The franchise bought eight new players at the 2020 IPL Player's Auction and spent Rs 18.85 crore in total, with the most expensive cricketer being West Indies' Shimron Hetmyer (Rs 7.75 crore)

The full list of Delhi Capitals players is as follows:

Retained: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Keemo Paul, Sandeep Lamichhane.

Traded in: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane

New Players: Jason Roy (Rs 1.50 crore), Chris Woakes (Rs 1.50 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (Rs 7.75 crore), Alex Carey (Rs 2.40 crore), Marcus Stoinis (Rs 4.80 crore), Mohit Sharma (Rs 50 lakh), Tarun Deshpande (Rs 20 lakh), Lalit Yadav (Rs 20 lakh)