IPL 2025: Faf du Plessis back as DC elect to bowl first against RCB in key clash
Bengaluru: Faf du Plessis returns to the playing XI as unbeaten Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel won the toss and opted to bowl first against a resurgent Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Match 24 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday.
Faf, who missed their previous match against Chennai Super Kings, comes in for Sameer Rizvi. RCB decided to go into their second home game with an unchanged playing XI.
DC captain Axar said they would like to chase on this ground. He also said he is trying to protect his injured finger, but would be ready to bowl four overs, if the situation requires.
Asked about Rahul’s batting position with du Plessis back in the side, Axar initially says it will depend on the first innings, before hinting that Rahul might go back down the order to number four. The DC captain said he has told the spinners to go for wickets, even if they concede a few extra runs, because wickets inevitably also stop runs.
RCB captain Rajat Patidar said he would have liked to bowl first too but thought as the surface is hard, putting runs on the board and then defending the target is not very bad. “It is important to win home matches,” he said, adding that they will try to do their best.
Playing XIs:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (capt), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal
Impact Substitutes: Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh
Delhi Capitals: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, KL Rahul (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel (capt), Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar
Impact Substitutes: Abishek Porel, Darshan Nalkande, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Donovan Ferreira.
