Chris Woakes not playing: Delhi Capitals have made a couple of changes to their Playing XI for their encounter against the defending champions.
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During the 13th match of the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians in Chennai, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss and chose to bat.
“We are gonna bat first. This one looks a little more drier compared to the last few games. We just got to to do or basics right. On a pitch like that, it’s important that you focus on the basics rather than focusing out of the box and trying to do all sort of things. It’s important to focus on little things and that can add up to big things,” Sharma told Star Sports at the toss.
Being asked about the changes made to their Playing XI, Sharma mentioned that they are playing an extra spinner in Jayant Yadav in place of a fast bowler in Adam Milne.
Jayant Yadav should be a very good call for @mipaltan If they put up a good score he can prove hugely handy in the powerplay against the batsmen in form for Delhi.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) April 20, 2021
Why is Chris Woakes not playing today’s match vs Mumbai Indians?
Much like Sharma, Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant also wanted to bat first but didn’t want to put too much weight behind the toss.
“We talked about that we are not gonna think too much about the toss. Yes we would have liked to bat first obviously but at the end of the day, the team which plays good cricket will win the match,” Pant told Star Sports at the toss.
However, unlike Indians, Capitals have made a couple of changes to their Playing XI by bringing in batsman Shimron Hetmyer and veteran spinner Amit Mishra for all-rounder Chris Woakes and pacer Lukman Meriwala.
With five wickets in three matches at an average and strike rate of 16.40 and 13.2 respectively, Woakes is Capitals’ second-highest wicket-taker this season so far. That being said, he has been benched primarily to play an extra spinner who is more likely to trouble the opposition’s batsmen at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Mishra, who has played in 152 IPL matches, has picked 160 wickets at an economy and strike rate of 7.35 and 19.86 respectively to be the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. In 96 IPL T20s for Delhi, Mishra’s 100 wickets have come at 7.35 and 19.80.
As far as Hetmyer is concerned, he will be playing his second match this scoring after getting benched for scoring a duck in his first appearance.
