Rajasthan Royals will take on Delhi Capitals in the 7th match of the 14th edition of Indian Premier League at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday (Apr 15). It will be a battle two young captains who were handed the captaincy just ahead of this season – Rishabh Pant for Delhi Capitals and Sanju Samson for Rajasthan Royals. Delhi already won their first game while Rajasthan are still searching for their first victory in this season.
Rajasthan Royals:
Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the rest of the IPL 2021 season with a finger injury. And that implies, Royals will have to look for a different opening combination for this game against Delhi. They might hand Liam Livingstone and make him open the batting alongside Manan Vohra or they can consider recalling David Miller into the middle-order while promoting Jos Buttler to open the innings.
Sanju Samson scored a brilliant century in their first match against Punjab Kings but couldn’t take them home. Turning down a single off the penultimate ball of the match will be remembered for a long time though! Royals young pacer Chetan Sakariya had an impressive IPL debut against Punjab and he would be the player to watch out for once again in this upcoming encounter.
Probable XI: Jos Buttler, Manan Vohra, Sanju Samson (c & wk), David Miller/Liam Livingstone, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya
Delhi Capitals:
Courtesy a brilliant first-wicket stand between Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan, Delhi Capitals were able to chase down a mammoth score against Chennai Super Kings. Delhi would once again rely on this pair to give them a head start. Pacers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje are still under isolation after a scare of COVID infection. Axar Patel might also sit out for this game against Royals.
With the kind of bowling attack Royals had, Delhi’s middle order would be put to test in this match. Ajinkya Rahane who struggles in the shortest format with his strike-rate will surely be tested. With the absence of Shreyas Iyer in the middle, there would be lot of pressure on young Rishabh Pant if top-order fails.
Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Woakes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Tom Curran, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan
What can we expect?
With the match being played at Wankhede, this could be another high-scoring match. Dew has also made appearance during CSK vs DC match and the same can be expected in this match. Toss could be a very crucial factor in this match. It might make or break things for these young captains.
Match Prediction:
Delhi Capitals look to be strongest side on paper. However, Rajasthan can upset any team on their day. We would go with Rishabh Pant led Delhi Capitals to win this match against struggling Rajasthan Royals with ease.
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