The Sourav Ganguly-led side have done reasonably well in the tournament so far, having won four out of eight matches. But their inconsistency has been a cause for concern as they have not been able to build a winning momentum.

After defeating table-toppers Daredevils at their own backyard, the Warriors lost the very next game against the same opponents as they failed to put up a big total against a team which has a strong batting line-up. The Warriors bowlers simply did not know how to bowl at a marauding Virender Sehwag who single-handedly won the match.

The Warriors would need Jesse Ryder and Robin Uthappa, who made 60 against Daredevils, to give them a good start, which could be capitalised later on by the likes of Ganguly and Steven Smith.

The experienced duo of paceman Ashish Nehra and spinner Murali Kartik would have to take the responsibility against a desperate Deccan Chargers.

Having lost all their earlier five matches, Deccan managed to get a point in their sixth game against Kolkata Knight Riders after the match was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to heavy rain.

They would be desperately looking to register their first win in the current tournament. But for that, they would have to play out of their skins.

The Chargers are well aware that they have a tough task in their remaining 10 games to go beyond the league stage and the former IPL champions would be keen to click against the Warriors.

They have failed in virtually all departments of the game with their butter-fingered fielders being the reason of their last few losses.

It would be important for the openers -- skipper Kumar Sangakkara and in-form Shikhar Dhawan to lay a solid platform for a big total if Chargers are to win against Pune.

Dhawan scored a valuable half-century in the last game against Kolkata and the team would expect him to continue his good work on Thursday as well.

The Chargers would also be hoping that both Parthiv Patel and Jean-Paul Duminy, who have shone with the bat in a few games, would fire in unison to see the team cross the line this time around.

However, the Chargers’ continuous bowling failure has been a major cause of worry and this time there is little option but to rectify the problem.

Despite South African pacer Dale Steyn’s good show, his spells are yet to produce the desired result for the team as none of the bowlers at the other end could complement him.

They can only hope that their bowling department consisting of leg-spinner Amit Mishra, Australian all-rounder Dan Christian, slow left-armer Ankit Sharma, besides Steyn, get their act together before it’s too late.