Steve Smith IPL 2021: Why is Prithvi Shaw not playing today’s IPL 2021 match vs KKR?

Prithvi Shaw not playing: Delhi Capitals have made a solitary change to their Playing XI for their match against Kolkata Knight Riders.

During the 41st match of the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals in Sharjah, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan has won the toss and chose to field for yet another time.

“We’re bowling first. I don’t know what the wicket will be like, but it’s not a belter, and not too bad, so somewhere in between. Setting a score might be a challenge, so we’ll try bowling. As a team we are focussed on taking it game by game.

“We have played good cricket in the second half and we have gone up from second-last position and we want to continue that performance. My performance has been a roller-coaster, so as long as the team is doing well,” Morgan told Star Sports at the toss.

Making a couple of changes to their Playing XI, Morgan announced that all-rounder Andre Russell and pacer Prasidh Krishna have been benched for pacer-duo of Tim Southee and Sandeep Warrier. The development has resulted in Kolkata compromising their batting depth for an extra specialist fast bowler.

Why is Prithvi Shaw not playing vs KKR?

Unlike the cases in most of the matches, Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant admitted that they were looking to bat first at Sharjah Cricket Stadium today.

“We were looking to bat first anyway. We don’t really know what the conditions are like. 150-160 should be good, since the wicket looks slow. We are looking to take one match at a time, and hope we can win this game and qualify for the playoffs for sure,” Pant told Star Sports at the toss.

Sharjah Storm incoming in 3⃣, 2⃣, 1️⃣… 🤩#YehHaiNayiDilli #IPL2021 #KKRvDC pic.twitter.com/E7qSgMmHIc

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) September 28, 2021

With opening batter Prithvi Shaw injured, they have had to make a forced change as Australia batsman Steven Smith has been included into the XI. Since Capitals had taken the field with just three overseas players in their previous match against Rajasthan Royals, they had the opportunity of replacing Shaw with Smith.

In the five innings that Smith had played for DC in the first leg of IPL 2021, his 104 runs had come at an average and strike rate of 26 and 111.83 respectively.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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