The past and the present of Indian cricket behind the stumps will meet at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. Rishabh Pant will be making his debut as Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper against his idol MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK). DC, knocked out by CSK in the second qualifier of IPL 2019, recovered to finish runner-ups in 2020. With Shreyas Iyer missing out due to a major shoulder injury, the Capitals have placed their faith in Pant.
Chennai, on the other hand, had their worst IPL campaign in 2020, failing to make it to the top four for the first time in their history. Skipper Dhoni will be looking to bring back the glory days for the Yellow Army.
Team News
Ruturaj Gaikwad, who displayed his panache as an opener for CSK towards the end of IPL 2020, is likely to continue with the same role. The return of Suresh Raina is meant to strengthen CSK’s top order. It remains to be seen whether he will continue at his usual number three position or not.
In the absence of Iyer, Pant will more likely feature as a number four, a role that suits him best in T20s. Ajinkya Rahane is likely to bat at three, with Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw as openers. Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, on the other hand, are serving their quarantine and shall not feature.
Fantasy tips
- Pant as a captain/vice-captain of any fantasy side is most likely to pay rich dividends.
- Raina, Shaw, Faf du Plessis, and Ambati Rayudu will be good top-order options for the game.
- Marcus Stoinis, Ravindra Jadeja, and Sam Curran are more than decent all-round choices to garner maximum points.
- The nature of the wicket at Wankhede is likely to assist seamers like Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur: CSK may go with both of them for the first game.
Fantasy XI
Rishabh Pant (c)
Suresh Raina (vc)
Faf du Plessis
Prithvi Shaw
Ambati Rayudu
Marcus Stoinis
Ravindra Jadeja
Sam Curran
Shardul Thakur
Deepak Chahar
Ishant Sharma
