Steve Smith not playing: Delhi Capitals have made five changes to the Playing XI which had represented them last.
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During the 33rd match of the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson has won the toss and chose to bat.
“Good surface. Make use of the conditions first up. For us it a chance to regroup. We want to put in a more focused performance. [David] Warner, [Jason] Holder, Rashid [Khan] and myself are the overseas players. Delhi are a very strong side,” Williamson told Star Sports at the toss.
Having last played in May 2021, Hyderabad have made three changes to their Playing XI bringing in David Warner, Wriddhiman Saha and Jason Holder for Jonny Bairstow, Vijay Shankar and Mohammad Nabi.
Why is Steve Smith not playing vs SRH today?
Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, have made five changes to their Playing XI since May 2021. While ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has replaced Lalit Yadav in the XI, DC have also dropped Australia batter Steven Smith.
“Absolutely fine fielding first. We would have bowled first anyway. We are just looking to focus and take one match at a time. [Anrich] Nortje, [Kagiso] Rabada, [Shimron] Hetmyer and [Macus] Stoinis are our overseas players,” Capitals captain Rishabh Pant told Star Sports at the toss.
While Pant wasn’t asked about the exact reason behind benching Smith, former captain Shreyas Iyer’s entry into the XI was always expected to happen at the price of dropping Smith as both of them playing together would’ve resulted in an extra anchor batter.
With Delhi also playing an extra overseas pacer in Nortje, they had no option than to bench an overseas batter.
