IPL 2023: Delhi Capitals (DC), struggling with poor form, will have to defeat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at any cost on Thursday in the ‘do or die’ match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the team’s star in the last season. Earth may fall on earth.
In this season, Shaw has been able to score only 34 runs in five matches and his highest score has been 15 runs. Due to this, there is a strong possibility of his being dropped from the team.
Delhi have lost all five matches so far this season, due to which the match against KKR could see changes in the top order. Sarfraz Khan, tried as a wicket-keeper batsman, could be dropped as a specialist opener for the powerplay overs while another option could be to send the experienced Manish Pandey up.
If the David Warner-led team loses this match, then all the doors to reach the playoffs will be almost closed. KKR, on the other hand, would like to forget their loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last match.
Captain Nitish Rana, middle-order batsman Rinku Singh and aggressive West Indies batsman Andre Russell have the ability to tear apart any bowling attack.
The worst news for Delhi has been Shaw’s poor form. The former Under-19 World Cup-winning captain has not been seen in his usual form. He scored 479 runs in 2021 and 283 runs in ten matches last year, but this time he is not even able to face the fast bowlers. He was run out in the last match against Royal Challengers Bangalore which Delhi lost by 23 runs.
Even though Warner’s poor form is being criticized, he is not getting a chance to play freely amidst the fall of wickets from the other end. He has scored 228 runs in five matches at a strike rate of 116. Mitchell Marsh of Australia could not walk at number three. In such a situation, Riley Rossouw or Rovman Powell can be fielded. Yash Dhull lacks technique and is unable to overcome it.
Delhi’s bench strength is also very weak due to which there is no option for the players struggling with bad form. England’s Jason Roy can be fielded in place of Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the KKR team.
This will be leg-spinner Suyyash Sharma’s first match at his home ground. The key to KKR’s success will be the form of Nitish, Rinku, Russell and Venkatesh Iyer.
Teams :
Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana (Captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaj, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakraborty, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, N. Jagdeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Liton Das, Mandeep Singh and Jason Roy.
Delhi Capitals: David Warner (c), Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan, Aman Hakim Khan, Abhishek Porel (wk), Akshar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav, Rovman Powell, Riley Rossouw, Enrich Norkia, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakaria, Mukesh Kumar, Phil Salt, Lungi Engidi, Praveen Dubey, Lalit Yadav, Ripple Patel, Vicky Ostwal, Ishant Sharma, Manish Pandey, Kamlesh Nagerkoti and Yash Dhul.
Match Timings: From 7.30 pm.
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