Delhi Capitals have seldom been the team to beat in the IPL. They have got into a very good rhythm with dominant wins in their first four matches. But when they take on Mumbai Indians in their first game at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Sunday, the attempt will be to make the surface amenable for spinners Axar Patel , Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam.
The Kotla pitch had managed to shed the reputation of being a low and slow surface in the past two years, with gigantic scores being posted in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the IPL last season. The DC team management seemed to have spent a considerable time around the main square.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
Comparing the strip on Saturday evening from Friday, there was a marked difference in the grass covering. The DC squad hasn’t practiced much at the Kotla this year. They played just one practice match on March 16.
The pitch isn’t likely to play excruciatingly slow because of the hard nature of the surface. But it could come down to how the slow bowlers from each team derive the most out of the surface.
While Kuldeep has been in top form and Nigam showing promising signs, skipper Axar hasn’t got a single wicket this season so far. This could be the venue he truly gets into the game.
Likely XII:
DC: Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel (C), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh
Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Mohit Sharma.
MI: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (C), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Vignesh Puthur.
The Kotla pitch had managed to shed the reputation of being a low and slow surface in the past two years, with gigantic scores being posted in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the IPL last season. The DC team management seemed to have spent a considerable time around the main square.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
Comparing the strip on Saturday evening from Friday, there was a marked difference in the grass covering. The DC squad hasn’t practiced much at the Kotla this year. They played just one practice match on March 16.
The pitch isn’t likely to play excruciatingly slow because of the hard nature of the surface. But it could come down to how the slow bowlers from each team derive the most out of the surface.
While Kuldeep has been in top form and Nigam showing promising signs, skipper Axar hasn’t got a single wicket this season so far. This could be the venue he truly gets into the game.
Likely XII:
DC: Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel (C), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh
Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Mohit Sharma.
MI: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (C), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Vignesh Puthur.
You may also like
Cops launch urgent search to find missing girl, 12, last seen at Manchester tram stop
Panel turns down road ministry proposal for 2 tunnels in Jammu & Kashmir
Ruben Amorim pulls no punches with damning Man Utd verdict - "We have to accept that"
Masters LIVE: Hole-by-hole score updates as Rory McIlroy battles Bryson DeChambeau
'I drove a car for the first time in years and 1 thing was completely unexpected'
