Mumbai: The seventh game of the ongoing IPL 2021 will see the battle between Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Sanju Samson and Rajasthan Royals (RR) suffered a loss in their opening match of IPL 2021 against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). In spite of Samson scoring a ton, the Royals lost the match by 4 runs. And now, they will battle against the Delhi Capitals on Thursday.
Rajasthan Royals (RR), are struggling to field their top overseas players. Jofra Archer's chances of recovering from his shoulder injury and joining RR in the league phase this season is highly unlikely. To add another blow, English all-rounder Ben Stokes is ruled out for the remaining season with a broken finger. RR may field either Liam Livingstone or David Miller in place of Stokes on Thursday against DC.
RR will have a new opening pair after being forced to make a change for Stokes. Miller or Livingstone can step in the middle order, while Jos Buttler may open the innings. Coming to the bowling side, RR will continue with young Chetan Sakariya along with Shreyas Gopal, Chris Morris and Mustafizur Rahman.
Well, talking about Delhi Capitals, South African pacer Kagiso Rabada will under scanner after Anrich Nortje tested positive for coronavirus. Nortje testing positive for COVID-19, has come as a huge blow for DC ahead of their match against Rajasthan Royals. Delhi Capitals, however, will be a resilient lot. Not only are they coming back from a decisive win over Chennai Super Kings in the first match but they have all players with a sublime form.
Without Nortje and Rabada, DC managed to restrict CSK to below 200 on a good batting pitch. Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan then went after the bowling, helping new skipper Rishabh Pant start the season with a great victory.
On paper, especially with RR's injury problems, DC look the complete favourites. However, as Sanju Samson proved recently, in T20 cricket even one good knock can turn a match. RR skipper will be hoping to impress again with the bat and will also hope Chris Morris, IPL’s most expensive player, comes good.
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Manan Vohra, Sanju Samson (C & wk), David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya
Delhi Capitals: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (C & wk), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Woakes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Tom Curran, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan