Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to bowl against Punjab Kings in the 11th IPL 2021 fixture between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
After losing their previous game against Rajasthan Royals, the Delhi-based outfit made two changes to their line-up as they handed debut caps to Steve Smith and Lukman Meriwala.
"We will like to bowl first. In the second innings, there is dew, so we need to make the use of the first 10 overs. I have been talking with the senior players and Ricky Ponting. Two changes. Smith comes in for Curran. Meriwala also comes in. Smith can help us at the top," said Pant after winning the toss.
Having lost their previous tie against Chennai Super Kings, Punjab Kings also tweaked their side by keeping M Ashwin out of the Playing XI and including Jalaj Saxena in place of him.
The 'Northern Derby' of IPL promises to dish out an exciting game, with Delhi looking like a stronger side on paper.
"Hopefully we can learn from the last game. The first six overs are key, if we can bat normally. We need wickets in hand. You quickly reflect on those kind of innings. It happens with every team, so you need to forget about it.
Hopefully we'll be able to make runs on this wicket. It's a good pitch to bat on so we need to make the most out of it. Ashwin misses and Jalaj Saxena comes in," said PBKS skipper KL Rahul.
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Marcus Stoinis, Lalit Yadav, Chris Woakes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Lukman Meriwala
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Jalaj Saxena, Mohammed Shami, Riley Meredith, Arshdeep Singh
