IPL 2021 is certainly one for the ages. As the days pass by, this tournament keeps coming up with exciting heart-in-the-mouth matches. This game also promises to be of the same kind. It can be termed as ‘The Tale of the New Captains’. So fasten your seat belt for another jaw-dropping clash as the Rajasthan Royals take on their North Indian counterparts Delhi Capitals in the financial capital of the country at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 15 (Thursday).
Both the captains for this game are captaining their side just for the second time. While Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson got off to a flier as a captain in his first game scoring a 100, he will certainly be disappointed with the fact that he was unable to take his team over the line. Rishabh Pant, on the other hand, will be high on confidence as his team cruised to victory vs MS Dhoni’s team.
Rajasthan Royals have suffered a huge setback as star all-rounder Ben Stokes was ruled out of the tournament due to an injury. Losing a player like him can certainly be extremely difficult for a team considering the match-winner that he is. Rajasthan Royals will be having a hard time trying to replace him. Other than that their batting looks decent. Jos Buttler, who batted at 4 the other might be moved up the order. Sanju Samson is coming into this game with red hot form and the management can hope he can go on. Riyan Parag will also play a crucial role as he looked in fine touch.
Talking about the Delhi Capitals batting, they won the game against Chennai because of their openers. Twin half-centuries from their openers ensured that Delhi did not have to toil too much to get their first victory. Delhi is a storehouse of young Indian talent and they will want that their Indian core can perform to their full potential. Ajinkya Rahane who did not get a chance to bat will be seen playing at 3. Prithvi Shaw has certainly overcome his ghosts from the Australian series and is carrying his domestic form into this tournament.
Rajasthan will not only miss Stokes with the bat but even with the ball and in the field. He could certainly pitch in with a couple of overs and he was probably the best Rajasthan Royals fielder. The spinners had a poor outing last time at this venue and it will be interesting to watch how Shreyas Gopal goes about his business. Wankhede tends to assist the fast bowlers a little bit and Rajasthan will want their young talented Indian fast bowlers to exploit that. Chetan Sakariya bowled beautifully in the last game and will certainly be picked to bowl with the new ball. Rajasthan Royals might be tempted to pick Andrew Tye over Mustafizur as they want to restrict the flow of runs in the death overs and Andrew Tye had an economy rate of just 8.3 at the death in the Big Bash.
Delhi Capitals have their set of problems as well the bowling department after Anrich Nortje has tested positive for Covid-19. Another South African pacer Kagiso Rabada has joined the training and is expected to be a part of this encounter. Along with Rabada, Delhi would be relying on their first match hero Avesh Khan to step up again. Avesh Khan was phenomenal with the ball picking two important wickets of Faf du Plessis and MS Dhoni.
Head to Head: Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Capitals
Played – 22
Rajasthan won –11
Delhi won –11
The history between the two teams tells us that both these teams haven’t allowed the other to get ahead of them. This makes it even more exciting as we gear up for the game which can turn out to be a close affair.
Weather and Pitch Report
The weather is absolutely clear with the temperature hovering around 31 degrees. The humidity is going to be high. The dew factor will certainly play a part. The Mumbai pitch is certainly a paradise for the batter. Although it provides some assistance to the fast bowlers, we most certainly will see a high-scoring encounter as the big hitters from both teams make use of the short boundaries and hammer the bowlers around.
Teams prefer to win the toss and bowl first on this ground and the trend might continue because of the dew which will set in during the latter half of the game.
Team News
Rajasthan Royals– They have lost a match-winner in Ben Stokes for the entire IPL 2021. They might be tempted to use either Liam Livingstone or David Miller as his replacement.
Delhi Capitals– After a dominating game vs Chennai, they are expected to field the same playing 11 for this game. However, Kagiso Rabada can make his way if he is deemed fit to play.
Squads
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c & wk), Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Manan Vohra, Anuj Rawat, Riyan Parag, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, KC Cariappa, Liam Livingstone, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh.
Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Lukman Meriwala, M Siddarth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings