Delhi Capitals (DC) won the toss and elected to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 clash at the MA Chidambaram stadium on April 11.
Amidst shoddy campaign, CSK have been boosted by the return of Dewald Brevis. Gurjapneet Singh too returned to CSK's playing XI. Meanwhile, J&K star pacer Auqib Nabi made debut for DC as he walked into playing XI in place of Vipraj Nigam. Meanwhile, Nitish Rana made room for Ashutosh Sharma in DC's playing XI.
What did the captains say at the toss?
DC captain Axar Patel, after winning the toss, said:
"We would like to bowl first because the pitch looks good, and whatever score is set, we would prefer to chase it. The IPL is a long tournament and the dressing room atmosphere is very relaxed. The discussion has been around focusing on what we can control, once we reach a certain point, there’s no need to overthink things. So that’s been the mindset, control what’s in our hands. The mood is good. If you look at the balance of our side, we have almost all bases covered. Obviously, based on the options we had, I think we’ve picked a very good combination. Compared to last year, the team looks more balanced and hopefully, we perform well today. As for the surface, it has been a good batting wicket this season. Over the last couple of years in Chennai, it has played well. It’s a red soil pitch, so there should be good bounce. Our aim will be to restrict them to as low a total as possible and then chase it down. There are two changes. Nabi comes in for Vipraj, and Ashutosh Sharma replaces Nitish Rana."
"The pitch does look a bit on the drier side. We were actually 50-50 about the toss, but it’s good to back ourselves. The aim is to put our best foot forward today, get that first win and get on the points table. That’s what we’ve been trying over the last couple of games as well. Like I mentioned in the press conference, we’ve been improving in all departments. The batting has been doing really well, it’s just a few key moments where we’ve missed out, and those are the areas we need to capitalise on. But overall, everyone is in a good space and really eager to go. When you look at the balance of the side, we are definitely playing to our potential. It’s great to have Brevis back, he’s excited and ready. The middle order looks solid as well. We’ve also brought in Gurjapneet Singh, who has been bowling well recently, in place of Matt Edwards. For those asking about MS Dhoni, he’s at the hotel watching and supporting us. But yes, very soon, you’ll see him out on the ground."
Chennai Super Kings' playing XI:
Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurjapneet Singh
CSK bench: Matthew Short, Akeal Hosein, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Matt Henry
Delhi Capitals' playing XI:
KL Rahul (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel (capt), Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Auqib Nabi, Lungi Ngidi, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar
DC bench: Vipraj Nigam, Ashutosh Sharma, Karun Nair, Dushmantha Chameera, Nitish Rana
Pitch Report
"Let's start with the dimensions first. 65 on my right, 68 on my left, and straight down is long, 79 meters long. The nature of this pitch has changed over the years, hasn't it? Indeed, and what hasn't changed is, of course, the humidity, but you're right, the personality has changed, and if you look at what has transpired in the last five years of IPL cricket here, the percentage of wickets to spin and pace at the Chepauk, that red bar has declined, declined to just 11%. So spin, no longer a great threat here. So when you look at this surface, will that continue? I'm looking at this surface and I'm seeing some bare spots, so maybe CSK might be advised to use maybe that Hosein option. There might be a little more turn, maybe Noor Ahmad could pick up his first wicket this season, but definitely there's something here for the spinners. The other thing too is, will both teams score in excess of 200? We saw that in the last game, but given what we're seeing here with the grass covering, it's quite even still, it doesn't look that dry. There are no guarantees, but it's going to be a good batting surface nonetheless," Daren Ganga and Deep Dasgupta analysed the pitch.