The reason why RPS players are wearing black armbands against DD

The players of Rising Pune Supergiant were seen black armbands in tonight’s game against Delhi Daredevils. The reason behind these black armbands is the passing away of Manoj Tiwary’s father.

The 31-year old Tiwary wasn’t a part of the XI tonight as he has rushed to his hometown to complete the last rites. He was replaced by Rahul Tripathi in the XI. Wearing armbands is a great gesture by the players of Pune.

Tiwary played a good hand in the last game against Kings XI Punjab. His 23-ball unbeaten 40 pushed RPS’ score beyond 160, though that wasn’t enough to force a win. The Bengal-lad has played in 79 games and Pune is the third franchise that he has played for in the last 9 years.

Pune faced another blow ahead of their game against DD in the form of Steve Smith. The skipper sat out of today’s game due to a stomach bug. This is a big blow for Pune as Smith was in his fine form and responsible for his side’s 7-wicket win against Mumbai Indians.

In his absence, Ajinkya Rahane is leading the side. Rahane, who led India to a famous win in the fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last month, will be looking to start his IPL captaincy stint with a win too. The Mumbaikar has been in fine form starting the season with an eye-catching 60. His knock laid the platform which was utilized by Smith at the back end of the innings.

Delhi Daredevils have set a stiff target of 206 to win for the Rising Pune Supergiant. Pune conceded 76 runs in the back end of the innings as their bowlers struggled to put a tap on the run-scoring.

A Smith-less RPS will have to bat out of their skins to win this one.