Updates:
The toss at the Arun Jaitley Stadium went Axar Patel's way and the spin-bowling all-rounder opted to field first against the Kolkata Knight Riders, citing the dew factor. While the Capitals announced an unchanged XI, Knight Riders skipper Ajinkya Rahane revealed that left-arm spinner Anukul Roy has come in place of pacer Vaibhav Arora.
DC playing XI: Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel(w), Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Dushmantha Chameera, Mukesh Kumar.
KKR playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Rovman Powell, Harshit Rana, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakaravarthy
Preview:
The Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals will take on one another for the first time in IPL 2025, with the Arun Jaitley Stadium set to host the game. The Knight Riders are in a dire need of a turnaround as their campaign is on the verge of ending officially after losing five out of nine matches.
Unlike the 2024 edition, when they lifted the trophy, their batting line-up has hardly come together on multiple occasions, with Venkatesh Iyer and Andre Russell's struggles the glaring ones. The defending champions might have fluffed the run-chase against the Punjab Kings, who had set them a stiff 202 for victory at the Eden Gardens but got away with one point due to a washout. However, they can't afford any more slip-ups in the tournament.
Meanwhile, the Capitals are in a good position despite the six-wicket loss to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on April 27, Sunday. Currently at fourth, the Capitals still have more than a decent chance of reaching the playoff. Nevertheless, their batting line-up needs to arrest the inconsistencies that have plagued them, of late.
DC and KKR IPL 2025 squads:
Delhi Capitals squad: KL Rahul, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Karun Nair, Abhishek Porel, Tristian Stubbs, Axar Patel (c), Kuldeep Yadav, T Natrajan, Mitchell Starc, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Faf du Plessis, Mukesh Kumar, Darshan Nalkande, Vipraj Nigam, Dushmanta Chameera, Donovan Ferreira, Ajay Mandal, Manvanth Kumar, Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari.
Kolkata Knight Riders squad: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Chetan Sakariya.
