File photo of DC skipper Shreyas Iyer (left) with his KKR counterpart Dinesh Karthik.
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Dinesh Karthik has opted to defend a total on the flat track of Sharjah as he has sent in Delhi Capitals to bat first after winning the toss. The KKR captain has also decided to bring in extra batting firepower in Rahul Tripathi instead of spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
Speaking after winning the toss, DK said: "Going to bowl first. Maybe a little bit to do with the dew. Both games so far have gone with the bowling team. We're on the right path. Instead of Kuldeep, we have Rahul Tripathi. Wanted to add depth to our batting. This is like every Indian ground we play on. Nothing new."
Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, made two changes in the side as R Ashwin is finally back after suffering shoulder injury in the previous match. the skipper also decided to pick another spinner in Harshal Patel for Ishant Sharma.
"Would've also looked to bowl considering the dew. Wicket looks amazing. Happy to bat as well. Have talked about it. Have got slow starts in the last few games. Important we don't lose wickets in pp. Have batsmen who can come in the later half and cover up. Ashwin in for Axar. Harshal in for Ishant. They have left-handers. Harshal gives batting down the order," skipper Shreyas Iyer said.
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy.
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Amit Mishra, Harshal Patel.
