Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant has won the toss and opted to field first against MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai. MS Dhoni said they would have bowled as well.
Delhi Capitals have handed debuts to England cricketers Tom Curran and Chris Woakes.
This is Pant’s first game as captain and also marks the return of Suresh Raina, who missed IPL 2020 after he pulled out as he wanted to be with his family during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We will bowl first. The wicket looks a bit soft. I will be a mix of youth and expereience, have done abit of captaincy in 2017, but my first IPL game. Four overseas players - Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes and Tom Curran. We aren't playing in Delhi, so think it's working fine,” Pant said at the toss.
“We were also looking to bowl, it's slightly difficult to defend on this ground. Dew could be a factor, but it's cloudy today, so it might not be a factor. The combination looks good, some of the overseas players turned up late, some are in quarantine, but we are ready to go - Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran and Dwayne Bravo are our four overseas players,” Dhoni said.
CSK had a forgettable IPL 2020 and finished seventh whereas Delhi Capitals finished runners-up losing to Mumbai Indians in the final.
Delhi Capitals: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Woakes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Tom Curran, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar
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