All eyes were on former Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath as he joined the Delhi Daredevils nets ahead of their first Airtel Champions League (CL) match against Victorian Bushrangers here at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Thursday.

The lanky Aussies pacer not only mesmerised everyone with his bowling but also uprooted the stumps of some top-order batsmen like Virender Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan. McGrath looked in complete control and impressed his teammates with his immaculate line and length.

However, the big question on the eve of the match was: Will he get to play the first match? The Devils camp refused to reveal anything. Keeping in mind the fact that 'Pigeon' was made to warm the benches in South Africa during IPL-2, it seems unlikely that he will get a start on Friday.

Daredevils skipper Gautam Gambhir had said on Wednesday that "the format is somewhat different from the IPL and we have to start winning from the very first match". So, the team would not want to take chances. McGrath himself was quite candid about his fitness and told TOI: "I am bowling after four months."

With Dirk Nannes and Ashish Nehra leading the pace charge and Amit Mishra looking good with his leg-spinners, Delhi's bowling department is certainly looking potent. And so is their batting line-up which boasts of big guns like Gambhir, Sehwag, Dilshan and Owais Shah. The team is also excited about Dinesh Karthik's form with the bat.

Meanwhile, both the teams have a fair bit of knowledge about each other. Victorian coach Greg Shipperd, who is also Daredevils' IPL coach, knows Gambhir's men very well. While Daredevils' coach for CL, David Saker, has worked with the Victorian team in the past and can give his team useful insight into the team led by Cameron White.

The visitors are buoyed by the fact that the likes of Brad Hodge and Peter Siddle, who was in tremendous form in the Champions Trophy, are in the lineup. The only cause of concern could be the Kotla pitch and how it behaves. Both the teams are reading too much into the slow and low nature of the track. Whatever the wicket, one thing is clear: it's going to be a humdinger.