IPL 2022: Match 27- Predicted Delhi Capitals Playing XI vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Delhi Capitals will be locking horns with the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 16. DC will be oozing with confidence heading into this clash, having registered an emphatic 44-run win over the Kolkata Knight Riders in their previous encounter. They will be up against RCB who had suffered a 23-run defeat against the defending champions Chennai Super Kings.

After their big win over KKR, the Capitals would not at all be interested in making any kind of chopping and changes to the Playing XI and would be sticking to the winning combination. With their batters and the bowlers being in good form, the team management would not be keen to give the benched players to prove their mettle at least for now as the Rishabh Pant-led side eyes back-to-back wins under their belt.

Here’s the Delhi Capitals Playing XI vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Openers: David Warner and Prithvi Shaw

The Delhi Capitals will once again be relying on the dynamic duo of David Warner and Prithvi Shaw to lay a solid foundation for them opening the innings. The duo had stitched a 93-run stand against KKR in the last match which eventually powered them to a mammoth 215/5.

Both batters also look in splendid touch. While Warner scored a blistering 61 runs from 45 deliveries, Shaw also made an impact, scoring 51 runs off 29 balls at an excellent strike rate of 175.9.

Middle Order: Lalit Yadav, Rishabh Pant (c and wk), Rovman Powell and Sarfaraz Khan

DC’s middle-order looks very promising with the onus on skipper Rishabh Pant to take charge, especially in the middle and death overs. Pant had scored a quickfire 14-ball 27 against Kolkata as he regained his form. However, the southpaw would be expected to lead from the front on the 22 yards with a big knock against Bangalore.

Barring his match-winning unbeaten 48 in the opener against Mumbai Indians, Lalit Yadav has failed to impress much and has only managed 74 runs from four matches, averaging 37 and a strike rate of 115.63. He would be eager to rediscover his lost touch. West Indies sensation Rovaman Powell has misfired so far with just 31 runs from four games.

Promising batter Sarfaraz Khan has not got many chances but did make the most of one chance that he got to bat this season with an unbeaten 36 off 28 deliveries against the Lucknow Super Giants.

All Rounders: Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur

Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur are two of the key performers for Delhi and a lot will depend on them going forward. The duo was involved in a match-winning partnership in the last match against KKR where they added an unbeaten 49-run stand for the sixth wicket. Thakur on the other hand also made a tremendous impact with the ball in hand.

The Palghar cricketer scored an unbeaten 29 runs from 11 deliveries and also finished with match-winning bowling figures of 2/30 from his 2.4 overs. Axar on the other hand remained not out on a 14-ball 22 and while he did not star in the wickets column, the left-arm spinner would be looking forward to bamboozling  RCB’s famed batting line-up in the next match.

Bowlers: Kuldeep Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman, and Khaleel Ahmed

The Delhi Capitals’ bowling line-up has been one of the consistent ones in the tournament. Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has been on a roll ever since he has donned the Delhi jersey and in fact, he was adjudged the Player of the Match against KKR for his figures of 4/35 from his four overs which made KKR lose the plot in their mammoth run chase.

Bangladeshi pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman might have gone wicketless in the last match but, all he needs is one good performance to roar back to form. The left-arm speedster is famous for his cutters and the batters need to be cautious of those well-disguised deliveries while facing him with the new ball as well as in the slog overs. Youngster Khaleel Ahmed was impressive in the last encounter against KKR where he was the second-best bowler for Delhi.

The tall pacer accounted for the likes of openers Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer as well as wicket keeper-batter Sam Billings to finish with figures of 3/25 from his four overs.

Here’s Delhi Capitals Predicted XI: David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Lalit Yadav, Rishabh Pant (c and wk), Rovman Powell, Axar Patel, Sarfaraz Khan, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman, Khaleel Ahmed.