Good news for Delhi Capitals with the IPL 2025 playoff race heating up. Faf du Plessis has recovered from injury. He is all set to return in the DC vs RCB clash on Sunday. But that raises the question: who goes out if Du Plessis returns? DC have used multiple openers in his absence. But considering away form of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, DC won’t take any chances.
Delhi Capitals have used four opening pairs this season. While Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk were the preferred option, it did not work out. Fraser-McGurk hit an awful slump in form while Du Plessis was out injured. In their absence, Abhishek Porel stepped in. Karun Nair and KL Rahul too became makeshift openers. However, with Du Plessis back, he is all set to open. He was among the first to hit the nets ahead of the DC vs RCB clash.
“He’s available tomorrow, from my understanding. He should be available for selection,” Jake Fraser-McGurk said ahead of DC vs RCB clash.
DC’s opening pairs in IPL 2025
- Jake Fraser-McGurk & Faf du Plessis vs LSG
- Jake Fraser-McGurk & Faf du Plessis vs SRH
- Jake Fraser-McGurk & KL Rahul vs CSK
- Jake Fraser-McGurk & Faf du Plessis vs RCB
- Jake Fraser-McGurk & Abhishek Porel vs MI
- Jake Fraser-McGurk & Abhishek Porel vs RR
- Abhishek Porel & Karun Nair vs GT
- Abhishek Porel & Karun Nair vs LSG
Who goes out for Faf Du Plessis?
Even though Du Plessis is guaranteed to start as the opener, it is unlikely that Abhishek Porel will be dropped. He will retain his opening spot with Fraser-McGurk continuing to warm the bench.
Even though Karun Nair’s form has not been that great, he has shown the intent and he will keep his place at No 3. KL Rahul will come in at No 4, followed by Axar Patel at No 5.
Faf du Plessis is likely to play as an Impact Sub as DC hasn’t used their full overseas quota lately. He can come in place of Dushmantha Chameera or Mukesh Kumar when DC bat.
Predicted DC Playing XI vs RCB
Abishek Porel, Faf du Plessis, Karun Nair, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel (c), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Dushmantha Chameera
Impact Sub: Mukesh Kumar
What about bowling?
Delhi will continue with three pacers and three spinners. Dushmantha Chameera replaced Mohit Sharma in their last match. Mohit hasn’t had a good season this time, picking up just two wickets in seven matches with an economy rate of 10.00.
Chameera is all set to continue after bowling 1/25 in three overs against Lucknow Super Giants. Mitchell Starc will lead the pace attack once again with Mukesh Kumar his second-in-command. Mukesh bowled a match-winning spell against LSG, returning with 4/33 in his four overs.
Spin concerns
In the spin attack, Kuldeep Yadav will lead despite going wicketless in the last match. Kuldeep is DC’s highest wicket-taker with 12 scalps so far. He has also maintained an excellent economy rate of 6.50 in IPL 2025.
However, the same cannot be said about DC captain Axar Patel. Axar has picked up just one wicket in eight matches at an average of 207.00 and an economy rate of 9.00 after bowling 23 overs. His stats are one of the poorest in IPL 2025.
Axar was one of DC’s most trusted wicket-takers until IPL 2024. He bagged 123 wickets with an economy of just 7.34. Even his bowling for Team India in T20Is has been decent, with 20 scalps in 16 T20Is since 2024. However, captaincy is clearly putting Axar under pressure. While Axar has batted well so far, DC need him to be back in form with the ball before the playoffs.
Axar Patel in IPL 2025
| Overs | Runs | Wkts | Econ | Dots | Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | 18 | 0 | 6.00 | 7 | v LSG |
| 4.0 | 43 | 0 | 10.75 | 7 | v SRH |
| 1.0 | 5 | 0 | 5.00 | 1 | v CSK |
| 4.0 | 52 | 0 | 13.00 | 8 | v RCB |
| 2.0 | 19 | 0 | 9.50 | 4 | v MI |
| 3.0 | 23 | 1 | 7.66 | 9 | v RR |
| 2.0 | 18 | 0 | 9.00 | 3 | v GT |
| 4.0 | 29 | 0 | 7.25 | 6 | v LSG |
| 23.0 | 207 | 1 | 9.00 | 45 | — |
Delhi Capitals Squad
Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Dushmantha Chameera, Mukesh Kumar, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sameer Rizvi, Madhav Tiwari, Donovan Ferreira, Tripurana Vijay, Darshan Nalkande, Faf du Plessis, T Natarajan, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Manvanth Kumar L, Mohit Sharma
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