Mahela ready to excel with Delhi Daredevils

Tuesday, 10 April 2012 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

New Delhi: Mahela Jayawardene and explosive batsman Kevin Pietersen arrived here Sunday, a day after completing their national duty for Sri Lanka and England respectively.

“I am looking forward to a good season with the team,” the Daredevils’ official website quoted Jayawardene as saying.

“It will be wonderful working with cricketers with so much collective experience. (The Team Mentor) TA Sekar had been telling me for a while before the auction that he was keen for me to turn out for Delhi.

“I know the Delhi Daredevils fans would have liked the Colombo Test to end in three or four days so that we could play the last night’s game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. But KP and I had other ideas,” he said, with his trademark smile.

Jayawardene and Pietersen both got hundreds in the first innings of the second Test which was won by England.

Pietersen said he was eager to contribute to the team’s progress.

“I know we have a good unit and am happy that we got off to a good start in Kolkata,” he said of the win over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. Pietersen was also happy to hear that paceman Umesh Yadav will be available for selection for the Tuesday’s game against Chennai Super Kings at the Ferozshah Kotla.Yadav went off the field without being able to begin his third over against Royal Challengers Bangalore because of a bout of cramps.