Delhi Capitals will be locking horns with a fidgety and unpredictable LSG at the Ekana in Lucknow on Tuesday. Axar Patel and co. will be looking to return to winning ways, having lost their previous tie against GT. DC is likely to stick with the same playing XI but could make some changes to their batting order. The team will play against LSG without the services of Faf du Plessis who might take a little more time to recover from his injury.
DC predicted playing XI vs LSG
| Position | Player | Role |
| 1. | KL Rahul (WK) | Batter |
| 2. | Karun Nair | Batter |
| 3. | Abhishek Porel | Batter |
| 4. | Tristan Stubbs ✈️ | Batter |
| 5. | Axar Patel (C) | All-rounder |
| 6. | Ashutosh Sharma | Batter |
| 7. | Vipraj Nigam | All-rounder |
| 8. | Mitchell Starc ✈️ | Bowler |
| 9. | Kuldeep Yaadav | Bowler |
| 10. | Mohit Sharma | Bowler |
| 11. | Mukesh Kumar | Bowler |
Rahul, Nair to open?
DC have already tried for opening combinations so far in IPL 2025. In the absence of Faf du Plessis, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Abhishek Porel have been tried as openers and all three have tasted success at the top of the order. Perhaps Axar Patel can allow Rahul to open the innings for DC along with his former Karnataka teammate Nair.
After all, Rahul is accustomed to batting at any position and score effectively. By allowing Rahul and Nair to open, DC will strike a fine balance with Nair playing the role of an anchor while Rahul goes on the offensive. Porel, who has been excellent at the top order, can play at number three.
In terms of impact player, DC’s plan to send in Ferrerira backfired in the game against GT. The team could use Dushmantha Chameera as an impact substitute while they are bowling.
Starc, Mohit and Mukesh will comprise of the pace unit while Axar will spearhead the spin department comprising of Kuldeep and Vipraj.
DC squad for IPL 2025
Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Donovan Ferreira, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sameer Rizvi, Darshan Nalkande, Dushmantha Chameera, Tripurana Vijay, Faf du Plessis, T Natarajan, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Manvanth Kumar L, Madhav Tiwari
