Depleted Delhi look to bounce back against resurgent Rajasthan

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

A depleted Delhi Capitals (DC) will look to bounce back against a resurgent Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Wednesday.

Delhi, who are on the second spot after two losses in their seven matches, will look to go over the top with victory over Rajasthan. Mumbai Indians stopped the juggernaut of Delhi with a convincing victory in top of the table clash on Sunday.

Delhi have been weakened by the injury blows to two of their main players. Indian pacer Ishant Sharma has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament while wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant will be out of action for at least a week, it was confirmed by the franchise earlier on Monday.

Sharma suffered a muscle tear during a team training session on Oct.7, the DC said in a statement. He featured in just one IPL game this season against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sept.29. He, however, failed to get a wicket in the match.

Delhi have already sought permission from the IPL governing body for the replacement of Sharma.

Meanwhile, Pant’s injury will add to their woes. He had injured himself last Friday during the match against Rajasthan — a game which Capitals won by 46 runs in Sharjah.

On Sunday, Capitals replaced him with Alex Carey in the playing XI for the Mumbai match, which they lost by five wickets at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Pant has been in good form in the ongoing IPL season, scoring 176 runs in six matches with a strike rate of 133.33.

Following Sunday’s defeat against the defending champions, Capitals have gone down to the second spot in the points table, with 10 points from seven games.

However, they have one of the most potent bowling line-ups, which can defend any score on a given day. It features the South African pace duo of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, wily spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel.

Delhi don’t have a star-studded batting line–up like Mumbai and Bangalore, but they do not bank on any star player.

In all their matches, someone or the other steps up to lead the charge and takes the team over the line.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, Rajasthan has been bolstered by the return of English all-rounder Ben Stokes.

Stokes, who was in New Zealand to be by his ailing father, missed the six matches and joined the squad only last week. After completing his six-day quarantine period, he played the only match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Stokes opened the innings but was dismissed by Khaleel Ahmed after scoring six runs only. He bowled just one over and did not pick up any wicket, yet his team went on to win the match against favourites Hyderabad to leave the play-off battles wide open with six points from three wins.

Rajasthan’s Riyan Parag, who was the architect of their victory against Hyderabad, exuded confidence in his team’s capabilities.

“We have been playing well but committing small mistakes at times. Delhi is a strong team but we are confident of taking up any challenge that comes our way,” said Parag.

Stokes is one of the best all-rounders of the world at present and played a vital role in guiding England to the World Cup glory last year. He was declared man of the tournament.

Stokes’ presence will boost the morale of the team and also send positive vibes across the dressing room.