KL Rahul to miss DC's opening match against LSG

KL Rahul Misses Delhi Capitals Debut Against Former Team LSG to Attend Birth of First Child

KL Rahul’s much-anticipated debut for Delhi Capitals (DC) was put on hold as he missed the team’s opening match against his former franchise, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), in Visakhapatnam to be present for the birth of his first child.

In Rahul’s absence, Axar Patel stepped in as DC captain and chose to bowl first after winning the toss, citing dew concerns: “We don’t want to take a risk with the dew later on.”

Axar’s opposite number for the day was none other than Rishabh Pant, his former DC teammate. The mutual respect and friendship between the two was clear during the toss. Though this marks Axar’s first season as full-time DC captain, he had previously led the side in one match last year.

Delhi fielded four overseas players: Tristan Stubbs, Mitchell Starc, Jake Fraser-McGurk, and Faf du Plessis. Either Ashutosh Sharma or Karun Nair is expected to be used as an Impact Player during the chase.

“We’ve got a strong squad, and I’m really excited,” Axar said. “Captaincy is a challenge, but I’ve been with the leadership group for a while. Right now, I just want to focus on my own game.”

Pant, now playing for LSG after years with DC, admitted there were mixed emotions facing his old team but was looking forward to the fresh start. LSG’s overseas quartet included Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, and David Miller. However, their bowling unit appeared weakened with injuries to Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, and Akash Deep. Either Akash Singh or Rajvardhan Hangargekar is expected to be brought in when they bowl second.

Visakhapatnam, DC’s second home ground, has proven to be a batting-friendly venue this IPL season, with first-innings totals of 191 and 272 in the two previous games played here.

Playing XIs:

Delhi Capitals: Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel (wk), Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel (capt), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar

Lucknow Super Giants: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi

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