IPL 2025: Anukul included as unchanged DC elect to bowl first against KKR

DC have 12 points in nine matches, but they ended up on the losing side in two out of three matches held on their original home ground in IPL 2025. A win will help them go to 14 points and get their second win of the season in New Delhi.

After winning the toss, skipper Axar Patel said, “It becomes easier to bat in the second innings because of the dew. I think it's a slow wicket, doesn't look dry and looks like a 190-200 pitch.”

“Will assess the conditions and try to restrict them to a lower total. You need to stay in the present. We wanted to focus on the process, not worry about the result. Need to execute our plans.”

KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane said Roy comes in for pacer Vaibhav Arora, who is now in the impact substitutes list. The defending champions have just seven points from nine games and need wins aplenty to stay in contention for a spot in the playoffs.

“It's hard to read the wicket, I thought the left-arm spinner will be a good option on this surface. We need to win five out of five, as simple as that. We are looking to play one game at a time and we will move forward accordingly. It's hard to read this wicket. Need to adapt to the conditions and assess quickly,” he said.

Tuesday’s game will be played on pitch number five, square boundaries are at 63m and 62m respectively, with the straight boundary standing at 67m. Commentators Ian Bishop and Nick Knight reckoned the pitch looks more compact, as it has a bit of a sheen.

Playing XIs

Delhi Capitals: Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel (wk), Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Axar Patel (captain), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Dushmantha Chameera, and Mukesh Kumar

Impact Substitutes: Ashutosh Sharma, Jake Fraser McGurk, Tripurana Vijay, Sameer Rizvi, and Donovan Ferreira

Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Rovman Powell, Harshit Rana, Anukul Roy, and Varun Chakaravarthy

Impact Substitutes: Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Mayank Markande, Vaibhav Arora, and Ramandeep Singh