Why Sarfaraz Khan not playing today: Delhi Capitals have made a solitary change to their Playing XI for this match.
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During the 27th match of the ongoing 15th season of the Indian Premier League between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium, Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant has won the toss and chose to bowl.
“We will like to bowl first. The wicket is looking on the drier side, we want to make use of it. Keep believing in the process and let’s take one match at a time and give our 100%. Hopefully, we can capitalize on the shorter side,” Pant told Star Sports at the toss.
Agreeing with his counterpart, Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis acknowledged the dry nature of the surface. du Plessis, 37, also laid emphasis on the varying boundary size at this venue.
“The pitch looks a little bit drier than anticipated. Breaking up the overs in the middle is something we spoke about and just the combination of the bowlers. It’s an obvious thing when you come here, you look at the short side and the big side, that’s always tactically how well or how badly you play the short and big boundaries,” du Plessis told Star Sports at the toss.
Why is Sarfaraz Khan not playing vs RCB today?
Delhi’s solitary change for this match has come in the form of all-rounder Mitchell Marsh replacing batter Sarfaraz Khan. Having recovered from an injury, Marsh will be making his debut for the franchise tonight.
“Mitch [Mitchell Marsh] comes in for Sarfaraz Khan. We have not decided yet, maybe he’ll bat three and I’ll bat four,” Pant added. Returning to the IPL after a couple of years, Marsh will be playing for his fifth franchise in DC.
In 15 IPL innings across five seasons, Marsh has scored 226 runs at an average and strike rate of 17.38 and 114.72 respectively. Marsh’s 20 IPL wickets have come at an average of 21, an economy rate of 7.90 and a strike rate of 15.95.
With them playing with less than four overseas players this season, Capitals had the option of playing Marsh for an Indian batter. The decision also affirms Pant’s backing of Rovman Powell in the middle-order this season.
Much like DC, RCB have also made a change to their Playing XI as pacer Harshal Patel has returned to the Playing XI in place of Akash Deep.
