Faf du Plessis missed the match against Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Captain Axar Patel confirmed that the former South Africa international is currently unfit and announced Sameer Rizvi as his replacement.
Senior Delhi Capitals batter Faf du Plessis missed the blockbuster clash against Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Captain Axar Patel confirmed that the former South Africa international wasn’t fit for the game and announced Sameer Rizvi as his replacement. Notably, Faf has scored 79 runs in two matches, including a half-century against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the previous match.
In his absence, KL Rahul returned to the opening. The keeper-batter featured at number four in the game against SRH and it was expected that the cricketer will play in the middle order in the ongoing IPL 2025 season. However, with Faf out of action, DC decided to shake things up.
Meanwhile, Delhi won the toss and elected to bat first vs Chennai. Explaining the reason behind the move, Axar explained that he expects the surface to get slower in the second innings. The all-rounder also mentioned that the dressing room is extremely positive after back-to-back wins in the tournament.
“We are going to bat first. Feels like there’ll be help for the bowlers. It’s an afternoon game and we expect it to get slower in the second innings. When you are winning, the atmosphere in the dressing room will obviously be good. In our team, we have a few players who have captained other franchises and their inputs help me a lot. Same combination – three fast bowlers and three spinners. Unfortunately, Faf is not fit for this game, Sameer Rizvi is playing,” Axar said after the toss.
On the other hand, Ruturaj Gaikwad was expected to miss out on the clash but the CSK captain recovered just in time. He meanwhile explained that the wicket looked good and he doesn’t expect it to change very much.
“We were looking to bat first as well. Good wicket, looks a bit dry. It’s a bit cloudy, I don’t think it’ll change too much,” Gaikwad explained.
CSK vs DC Playing XI:
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Jake Fraser-McGurk, KL Rahul (wk), Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel (c), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana