A high on confidence but recently beaten Delhi Capitals are set to take on a timid Rajasthan Royals side at their homeground, Arun Jaitley Stadium. Axar Patel-led DC lost to Mumbai Indians (MI) in a close encounter whereas Sanju Samson's RR were humbled at home by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
DC have a major headache at the top of the order. Their star hard-hitter Jake Fraser-McGurk has been a pale shadow of what he was in the previous season. McGurk has been struggling to get going. In the five games, he has two ducks, two single-digit scores and a sluggish 38-run knock. However, DC are likely to give him a long rope despite Karun Nair's stupendous knock as there is no clarity over Faf du Plessis' fitness. The last time he played against RR, the Australian opener scored 50 runs from just 20 deliveries. DC are likely to stick to the lineup they had against RR.
Delhi Capitals Predicted Playing XII:
Jake Fraser-McGurk, Karun Nair, Abishek Porel, KL Rahul (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel (C), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar
Samson's RR have been far from consistent. Barring the win against Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 50 runs, they haven't been consistent. They are eighth on the points table with two wins from six games. RR don't have any injury issues but they maybe tempted to make a change. Nitish Rana has been underwhelming barring the whirlwind 81-run knock against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He has scored 117 runs from six innings at an average of 23.40. Rana is a local boy (even though he has moved to Uttar Pradesh state team) but he does not have a good T20 record at home.
They can give 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi a chance at the top of the order. Suryavanshi was picked for Rs 1.10 crore in the IPL mega auction but yet to make his debut. The young southpaw has been impressive in the nets, facing the likes of Jofra Archer.
Rajasthan Royals Predicted Playing XII:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (C, wk), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Nitish Rana/Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Kumar Kartikeya
DC vs RR Weather and Pitch Report:
It is going to be hot in Delhi. There is no chance of rain. The wind speed may reach as high as 21 km per hour. Despite the assistance to spinners, it is expected to be a high-scoring encounter with small square boundaries and fast outfield.
DC vs RR Full Squads:
Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Nitish Rana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Kumar Kartikeya, Shubham Dubey, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Ashok Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi
Delhi Capitals Squad: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Sameer Rizvi, Darshan Nalkande, Donovan Ferreira, Dushmantha Chameera, Faf du Plessis, T Natarajan, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Tripurana Vijay, Manvanth Kumar L, Madhav Tiwari