New Delhi: The struggling capital of Delhi will seek to regroup and resolve bowling concerns as they face the tabletop Gujarat Titans in a reverse IPL conflict on Sunday to keep the playoff hopes.
If three losses and non-toxicity due to rainfall in the last five games weren’t enough, DC was called midway after airstrike alarms from neighboring Jamu and Pathankot, prompting the league to suspend a one-week suspension.
Although the game has resumed, several overseas players have not returned to fulfill their commitments, forcing the franchise to make major adjustments to their squad.
DC, who currently has a top four with 13 points in 11 games, suffered a major setback with Premier Pacer Mitchell Starc and decided not to return for the rest of the season. The Australian left serviceman is the team’s leading ticket inspector with 14 scalp, and his absence is a major blow to DC’s already slim playoff hopes.
Somehow relieved the capital managed to secure the service of Bangladesh Pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who received a “no objection certificate” from the national board on Friday.
An experienced IPL campaigner, economically inconvenient economy, has an economy of 7.84 in many competitions.
The team led by Axar Patel also experienced a disappointing victory in the super match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium this season, which could only pass one victory.
When the two teams last met on April 19, DC was shocked by 54 goals by Jos Buttler’s 97 goals as GT easily chased over 200+ totals to win seven wickets.
Their Head-to-head record In the same case, each side is very balanced. They have maintained a record of six confrontations in IPL history.
DC’s problems have only deepened in recent outings. Their upper and middle ends were against Hyderabad in a rainy match, and their bowlers were hit by the Punjab King, who was abandoned in Dharam Sara’s match by 122 in just 10.1 matches before the match.
The speed attack composed of Dushmantha Chameera and Mukesh Kumar has been working hard to deliver, which makes Mustafizur’s role in providing early breakthroughs, especially at the highest stages of GT.
The batting unit is also not consistent. On their last completed outing, DC dropped from SRH to 29 fifths on May 5. They did not compete in the Dharamsala competition.
The return of the experienced opener Faf du Plessis is to push DC, and he hopes the supreme order, including Abishek Porel and Karun Nair, can leave their recent struggle behind and fire on the GT.
DC had tried Nair as the opener, but the move backfired because he was fired for targeting the SRH duck. Du Plessis and Porel also failed to convert to large scores.
The team’s leading running scorer this season, KL Rahul, will play a crucial role with Skipper Axar. If the duo can lay a solid foundation, people like Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam and Ashutosh Sharma can provide a late boom in death.
The GT comfortably perched on the top of the tabletop, scoring 16 points in 11 games, is a good unit this season.
Jos Buttler and South African pacemaker Kagiso Rabada have rejoined the team, although the British will not be able to compete in the finals of the GT against the Chennai Super Kings due to national responsibility.
Shubman Gill, B Sai Sudharsan and Buttler have formed strong premium orders, all over 500 this season. Their consistent score with high strike rates means that the GT’s intermediate order has been largely untested, forbidding Sherfane Rutherford.
DC will need to strike early to expose that intermediate order and stop the momentum of GT.
GT’s bowling units match their batting glory. Prasidh Krishna leads the IPL wicket chart with 20 scalps, while Mohammed Siraj (15 wickets) and left-arm rotator R Sai Kishore (14) are also consistently delivered, making it difficult for the GT to crack in both ways.
team:
Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel (c), Mustafizur Rahman, Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Sameer Rizvi, Darshan Nalkande, Tripurana Vijay, Dushmantha Chameera, Faf du Plessis, T Natarajan, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Manvanth Kumar L, Madhav Tiwari.
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gil (C), Jos Buttler (WK), Kumar Kushagra (WK), Anui Rawat (WK), Anuj Rawat (WK), Sherfane Rutherford, Nishant Sidhu, Mahipal Lomror Dasun Shanaka, Shahrukh Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Manav Suthar, Gerald Coetzee, Gernoor Singh Brar, Ishant Sharma, Kulwant Khejroliya, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Rashid Khan.
The competition begins at 7:30 pm.
