A depleted Delhi Capitals will look to return to winning ways when they take the field against Punjab Kings at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 match no. 32 at the Brabourne Stadium – CCI in Mumbai on Monday. Skipper Rishabh Pant won the toss and opted to bowl first against Punjab.
A total of six DC members have tested positive for Covid-19 so far. Two of them are Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh and New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Tim Siefert. While the former returned a positive test and was hospitalised on Monday, the Kiwi cricketer tested positive hours before the clash against Punjab Kings, on April 20.
IPL 2022 – FULL COVERAGE | SCHEDULE | RESULTS | ORANGE CAP | PURPLE CAP | POINTS TABLE
However, as the BCCI informed, the game will go ahead as scheduled. Since Marsh hasn’t recovered, he has been replaced by batter Sarfaraz Khan.
“We are going to bowl first. It (Covid positive cases in the team) is an unfortunate thing, we are not going to think about it. We will find strength among ourselves. There were parts where we bowled and batted well (in the last match). Sarfaraz comes in for Mitch Marsh,” said Rishabh Pant after winning the toss.
Meanwhile, Punjab has received a major boost as captain Mayank Agarwal has returned to the mix after missing out on the last couple of encounters. At the same time, Nathan Ellis has added to the playing XI, in place of Odean Smith.
“I am fine now, just getting some protection for the shoe. I am in, Ellis comes in for Odean Smith. It’s more of a strategic change. We need to put up our best foot forward and play some good cricket. We have an opportunity to bat first and put up a big score on the board and defend it,” said PBKS captain Mayank.
ALSO READ | IPL 2022: Covid-19 Rocks Delhi Capitals Camp - Timeline of Events After 6 Members Test Positive
Here are the playing XIs:
Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Rovman Powell, Lalit Yadav, Sarfaraz Khan, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman, Khaleel Ahmed.
Punjab Kings: Mayank Agarwal(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Shahrukh Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Vaibhav Arora, Arshdeep Singh.
Get all the latest updates on Cricket News, Cricket Photos, Cricket Videos, IPL 2022 Live Updates and Cricket Scores here