Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel won the toss and elected to field first against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk on a fresh red-soil surface. DC made an early selection call, replacing legspin allrounder Vipraj Nigam with pace allrounder Auqib Nabi, who gets his Indian Premier League debut.
Nabi, aged 29, arrives with a strong domestic backdrop, having been the leading wicket-taker with 60 scalps as Jammu & Kashmir clinched their maiden Ranji Trophy title. For DC’s chase, the captain could also look at options such as Ashutosh Sharma or Nitish Rana as an Impact Player depending on how the innings develops.
Quick facts
- Axar Patel won the toss and chose to bowl at Chepauk on red soil.
- DC’s change: Vipraj Nigam out; Auqib Nabi in (IPL debut).
- Nabi was top wicket-taker (60) for Jammu & Kashmir in their maiden Ranji Trophy title run.
- CSK’s changes: Dewald Brevis returns; Gurjapneet Singh makes an IPL debut.
- CSK XI includes Brevis, Jamie Overton and Noor as overseas picks.
Chennai responded with two alterations to their setup. Dewald Brevis returns to the middle order after recovering from a side injury, while Tamil Nadu left-arm seamer Gurjapneet Singh earns his IPL debut.
There was, however, no place in the playing group for New Zealand pace bowler Matt Henry or local left-arm spin allrounder Prashant Veer, with Veer still waiting to bowl in the IPL.
Gurjapneet, 27, has recently featured for India A and has also been one of the standout death bowlers in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. His selection gives CSK a fresh attacking option in the later overs when wickets can swing the contest.
Alongside Brevis, Jamie Overton and Noor complete the overseas contingent in CSK’s bat-first XI. Kartik Sharma is not included in the main squad, instead starting the match on the Impact Sub bench, while CSK may consider a bowling Impact Sub such as Henry or Akeal Hosein later in the evening.
CSK bat-first XI
- 1 Sanju Samson (wk)
- 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt)
- 3 Ayush Mhatre
- 4 Sarfaraz Khan
- 5 Dewald Brevis
- 6 Shivam Dube
- 7 Jamie Overton
- 8 Noor Ahmad
- 9 Anshul Kamboj
- 10 Khaleel Ahmed
- 11 Gurjapneet Singh
Impact Sub bench for CSK: Matt Short, Akeal Hosein, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Matt Henry.
DC bowl-first XI
- 1 KL Rahul (wk)
- 2 Pathum Nissanka
- 3 Sameer Rizvi
- 4 Axar Patel (capt)
- 5 Tristan Stubbs
- 6 David Miller
- 7 Auqib Nabi
- 8 Lungi Ngidi
- 9 Kuldeep Yadav
- 10 T Natarajan
- 11 Mukesh Kumar
Impact Sub bench for DC: Vipraj Nigam, Ashutosh Sharma, Karun Nair, Dushmantha Chameera, Nitish Rana.
