IPL 2018: Punjab skipper Ashwin opts to field first against Delhi

Punjab skipper R Ashwin on Sunday won the toss and opted to field first against Delhi in the second match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 in Mohali.

Both underachievers look to begin the T20 tournament on a winning note. 

"We will be fielding first. Playing the IPL, which is one of the marquee events, and I am very happy. We have a lot of international experience. It's a new start," Ashwin said. 

"A decade if IPL is gone by and the franchises are looking to build a new culture and that's where me and Hodge come in. We're playing Stoinis, Miller, Zadran and Tye as our four overseas players," he added.

It will be Ashwin's maiden stint as captain of an IPL team. 

Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir has also returned to his franchise Delhi after a successful stint with Kolkata in previous few seasons. 

Speaking on his homecoming, Gambhir said, "It's great coming back home. Hopefully we can turn it around. Hopefully all of us together can. It's just about trying to implement what we want to do on the field. We're playing Munro, Christian, Morris and Boult."

In the last 10 seasons of IPL, both the teams have failed to impress much near the playoffs and have empty cabinets after a decade.

Here's the full squad of two teams

Delhi Daredevils (Playing XI): Gautam Gambhir(c), Colin Munro, Rishabh Pant(w), Shreyas Iyer, Chris Morris, Vijay Shankar, Daniel Christian, Rahul Tewatia, Amit Mishra, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami

Kings XI Punjab (Playing XI): Lokesh Rahul(w), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Yuvraj Singh, David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman