Delhi Capitals won the toss and chose to bowl first against Rajasthan Royals at Delhi, a decision made with the hosts’ playoff chances hanging by a narrow margin.
Key takeaways
- DC captain Axar Patel opted to field first versus RR at Delhi.
- Delhi made a single switch: T Vijay came in for Auqib Nabi.
- Rajasthan welcomed back Riyan Parag and adjusted their XI with Ravi Singh replacing Ravindra Jadeja.
- Adam Milne was included for RR, while Tushar Deshpande did not play.
- The venue measures the square boundaries at 63 metres and the straight boundary at 73 metres.
Why Axar chose to bowl first
With DC’s qualification hopes depending on results, Axar Patel decided to take the first bowling assignment against Rajasthan Royals. He noted that the pitch was not offering much variation for decision-making, describing conditions as fairly dry with no live grass visible.
Delhi’s only alteration came in the form of debutant T Vijay, who replaced Auqib Nabi in the playing XI. Axar’s thought process, as stated, was not overly focused on the pitch characteristics given the dry nature of the surface.
RR’s approach and selection calls
For Rajasthan, Riyan Parag returned to the side and said he was comfortable with the toss going against them, adding that he was unsure what the wicket would behave like. Rajasthan also made one change to their batting and bowling plans: Ravindra Jadeja was left out due to “load management”, with Ravi Singh brought in as his replacement.
Rajasthan further reshaped their bowling group by bringing in fast bowler Adam Milne. Tushar Deshpande missed out, completing the set of XI changes for the visitors.
Ground details and playing XIs
The contest is staged at the centre wicket. The two square boundaries are set at 63 metres each, while the straight boundary measures 73 metres.
Delhi Capitals: 1 Abishek Porel, 2 KL Rahul (wk), 3 Sahil Parakh, 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 David Miller, 6 Axar Patel (capt), 7 Mukesh Kumar, 8 Madhav Tiwari, 9 T Vijay, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Lungi Ngidi
Impact Player bench: Ashutosh Sharma, Sameer Rizvi, Vipraj Nigam, Pathum Nissanka, Karun Nair
Rajasthan Royals: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 3 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 4 Riyan Parag (capt), 5 Ravi Singh, 6 Donovan Ferreira, 7 Shubham Dubey, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Adam Milne, 10 Brijesh Sharma, 11 Yash Raj Punja
Impact Player bench: Dasun, Shanaka, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Bishnoi, Sushant Mishra, Aman Rao
