When the Delhi Capitals play the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their penultimate league stage encounter of the IPL 2024 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, May 12, they will be looking to maintain momentum after earning a significant victory in their previous match.
Leading the team will be Axar Patel, while Rishabh Pant is suspended for a slow turnover rate. Head coach Ricky Ponting of the Delhi Capitals announced the following at the team’s pre-game news conference on Saturday: “He (Axar) has been Vice-Captain at this franchise for the last couple of seasons. A smart guy with a great deal of experience in the IPL and internationally who has a deep understanding of the game. He’s enthusiastic about it. We first discussed it a few days ago when there was a chance Rishabh would be prohibited.”
“He understands it mentally. Today, we completed our bowlers’ meetings. He’ll check in with all of the men tonight, go over all of the preparations, and make sure he’s prepared to lead the squad effectively tomorrow,” the man continued.
The hosts are enjoying a four-game winning streak, while the Delhi Capitals, with 12 points from 12 games, are ranked fifth in the standings. “They’re all tough games in the IPL,” the DC Head Coach responded when asked if the matchup would be challenging or equal. Rewind the clock two weeks and you’ll find that RCB wasn’t playing at all. And today, it’s likely that they performed as well as anyone in the competition.”
“I’ll also argue that our team’s performance throughout the previous seven games has been as good as anyone in the competition. We’ve made some incredible scores during the past seven games, winning five of them. Even though Pant isn’t in the starting lineup, we won’t be making any excuses tomorrow. The Delhi Capitals would be extremely difficult to defeat tomorrow if we showed up and played our best game, he continued.
In addition to discussing the lineup that will play without Pant, Ponting provided an update on David Warner’s health.
After taking a hard hit to the hand almost a month ago, David Warner was unable to play in the most recent game. He put in a great workout yesterday and will be hitting balls in the middle right now, which means he’ll be batting more today. He remarked, “Hopefully, he’s available for selection tomorrow.”
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