Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Shreyas Iyer highlighted the importance of experienced cricketers, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane, to his team ahead of their IPL 2020 opener against King XI Punjab (KXIP) on September 20 in Dubai.

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The Capitals traded in both Ashwin and Rahane before the auction in December last year. While Ashwin came on board after leading Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Rahane was the skipper for Rajasthan Royals (RR) and their batting mainstay until last year.

"They (Ashwin and Rahane) definitely bring a lot of strength and experience, and if you see the practice sessions we have had over the last few days, they have been amazing. They help everyone in the team and especially the younger guys," Iyer said in a virtual press conference.

COVID-19 pandemic forced the BCCI to shift this year’s IPL to UAE. The tournament will be held in a bio-secure environment across three venues – Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

"Circumstances are definitely challenging and unusual for us because we are used to staying in the sun for 6 hours. But we will be giving our best efforts to follow each and every rule, and at the same time we will be trying to come together as a team to make sure we are able to keep ourselves entertained and to ensure that we do not feel like we are far away from our families," Shreyas said.

Under Ricky Ponting’s guidance, DC had made it to the play-offs for the first time in seven years last season.

With the addition of Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis and Alex Carey in their set-up, Capitals are expected to better their performance in this edition.