'Come game time, it's all about..': Punjab skipper KL Rahul gears up ahead of Delhi clash

Ahead of the franchise's opening clash against Delhi in the IPL 2020, Punjab skipper KL Rahul is all set to lead the squad with Anil Kumble's addition to the think tank. Speaking ahead of the squad's first game in UAE, Rahul said that the team wants to go out there and give it their best without any added pressure. While the game will witness two young Indian guns locking horns as they lead their squads, it will also be a battle of maestros as Kumble's Punjab and Ponting's Delhi take on each other in Dubai on Sunday night. 

 "I have never lived on hope or left anything to chance. As a team what we want to do is go out there and try to give it our best and try to enjoy and not put any pressure on ourselves," KL Rahul said in a video shared by the franchise just ahead of the clash.

"Come game time, it is all about going and expressing yourself and enjoying whatever challenge comes our way," he added.  

"It means everything. I mean it is the only thing that I know how to do and the only thing that I have done all my life so quite honestly it is everything. There is nothing else I can say. The only way I can express what it means is that it means everything," the Punjab skipper said when asked what cricket means to him. 

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Punjab full squad: 

KL Rahul (c), Karun Nair, Mohammed Shami, Nicholas Pooran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Hardus Viljoen, Darshan Nalkande, Sarfaraz Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Murugan Ashwin, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, James Neesham, Prabhsimran Singh, Chris Jordan, Tanjinder Dhillon, Ravi Bishnoi, Ishan Porel, Sheldon Cottrell, Jagadeesha Suchith and Krishnappa Gowtham.

Chennai, Mumbai kickstart IPL 2020 in style

After being put into bat, by Chennai skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the four-time champions got off to a brisk start as openers Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock added 46 runs for the opening wicket before the duo was dismissed in quick successions. Even the Chennai bowlers came back well at the backend of the innings as they accounted for Mumbai's big-hitters and the title-holders were restricted to 162/3 in their 20 overs. 

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In reply, the former champions were off to a disastrous start as they lost the wickets of openers Shane Watson and Murali Vijay to find themselves in a spot of bother at 6/2 in the first two overs. However, Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis had other ideas as they ensured that the 'Yellow Army' did not face any further hiccups in their run chase. The duo added 115 runs for the third-wicket stand before Rayudu had to depart for a spectacular 48-ball 71 at a strike rate of 147.92 that included six boundaries and three maximums. du Plessis made the four-time champions pay for their sloppy fielding by scoring his 13th IPL half-century and helping Chennai get past the finish line by five wickets with four balls to spare. 

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