Rahul Chahar not playing: Defending champions Mumbai Indians have made a solitary change to their Playing XI for this match.
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During the 46th match of the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals in Sharjah, Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant has won the toss and chose to field.
“We’re going to bowl first. When we played the last time [in Sharjah], it felt like a better option to chase here. DC will take one match at a time, and even though we qualified, we will take one at a time,” Pant told Star Sports at the toss.
Pant also confirmed their lone change for this match which has come in the form of opening batter Prithvi Shaw returning for all-rounder Lalit Yadav. Shaw, 21, had missed Delhi’s last match against Kolkata Knight Riders due to an injury.
Lalit 🔀 Prithvi ✅
Your take on our 1⃣1⃣ to face the Paltan? 💪#YehHaiNayiDilli #MIvDC #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/rN43NBLIVT
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) October 2, 2021
Why is Rahul Chahar not playing vs Delhi Capitals?
Defending champions Indians captain Rohit Sharma admitted that he was in too minds with respect to the making a decision at the toss. Keen to win this match to not let their playoff qualification depend on Net Run Rate, Sharma laid emphasis on getting a par score by “batting well”.
“I was in two minds about batting and bowling. Teams have lost batting first and chasing, so it doesn’t matter, we have to play good cricket and put runs on the board. Our bowling is amazing and has restricted oppositions so we just have to bat well and get a par score.
“We know where we stand on the table but we have to focus on what we have in hand, and on the particular occasion. We have a good squad and have to perform collectively,” Sharma told Star Sports at the toss.
Much like DC, MI have also made a solitary change to their Playing XI by including spinner Jayant Yadav for Rahul Chahar. Having picked 13 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 24.46, an economy rate of 7.39 and a strike rate of 19.8, Chahar is Indians’ second-highest wicket-taker this season.
However, the presence of five left-handed batters in Capitals’ Playing XI today has forced Sharma to make this change. Playing his first match of the UAE leg, Yadav had picked a wicket in the 11 overs he’d bowled across three outing in the first leg of the season earlier this year. In a total of 25 overs in seven matches for MI across three seasons, Yadav has picked three wickets at an economy rate of 7.
