After a one-hour delay to the start of the match due to rain, Delhi Capitals captain David Warner has won the toss and chose to bowl in the 28th match of the ongoing 16th season of the Indian Premier League against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
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“We will have a bowl first. [With] Weather being around, you don’t know what the [ideal] total is going to be. We haven’t been disciplined with the ball,” Warner told host broadcaster Star Sports Network at the toss.
Coming on the back of five back-to-back losses, Capitals have made three changes to their Playing XI. Batter Yash Dhull, wicket-keeper batter Abishek Porel and pacer Mustafizur Rahman are not playing this match. Wicket-keeper batter Phil Salt and pacers Mukesh Kumar and Ishant Sharma have been handed opportunities by the franchise tonight.
While Salt is playing his first-ever IPL match, Sharma is playing an IPL match after almost a couple of years.
Why is Shardul Thakur Not Playing vs Delhi Capitals?
Knight Riders, on the other hand, have made as many as four changes to their Playing XI. In addition to handing debuts to opening batters Jason Roy and Litton Das (IPL debut) and pacer Kulwant Khejroliya, the visitors have also included batter Mandeep Singh into their Playing XI. Readers must note that Roy and Khejroliya had last played an IPL match in 2021 and 2019 respectively.
The development means that KKR will be taking the field without wicket-keeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz, batter Narayan Jagadeesan, all-rounder Shardul Thakur and fast bowler Lockie Ferguson.
Considering how there was only a 15-minute period between the toss and start of play, Kolkata captain Nitish Rana wasn’t asked about the rationale behind these changes. If truth be told, Rana hadn’t revealed these changes at the toss saying that he doesn’t remember them.
Therefore, it remains unknown if Thakur has suffered a niggle or has been left out on form. Although Thakur’s 105 runs across five innings have come at a strike rate of 198.03, his primary job of a pacer has seen him pick two wickets at an average of 68.50, an economy rate of 11.57 and a strike rate of 35.5 this season.
