Delhi Capitals is one of those three teams who have been hit by a major injury concern of the players. In the form of a major loss, Delhi Capitals will be without their strong captain, Rishabh Pant. Rishabh Pant, who managed out Captaincy, wicket-keeping and middle-order batting all too well. He had undergone a major surgery after an accident a few months ago which resulted him being ruled out of the IPL 2023 season. 

With Rishabh Pant being not present, it is expected that David Warner will be leading the Captaincy duties for DC. Meanwhile, Axar Patel can be the vice-captain of the DC squad. The gap which Rishabh Pant has made is too big to be filled by a single player. Also, there is no official replacement for Pant announced as yet.

Hence, selecting a first-choice for Delhi Capitals and the most important playing 11 is now a task in itself. All other players except Rishabh Pant are fit and available to play for now. So, keeping all aspects of the team and players in mind here’s a list of predicted playing 11 in the absence of Rishabh Pant.

Predicted Playing 11 for Delhi Capitals:

Openers: David Warner and Prithvi Shaw

Just like in IPL 2022, Delhi Capitals could see a successful opening duo in the form of David Warner and Prithvi Shaw. Both of them are quite successful as openers individually in IPL. Also, they have their own set of desires to go with. While Prithvi Shaw would be like to give his best to get back to the national team, Warner would be handling an added captaincy responsibility with him. 

Middle-order: Sarfaraz Khan and Mitchell Marsh

The middle-order might see Mitchell Marsh at 3rd and Sarfaraz Khan (wicket-keeper) at 4th. The void of Rishabh Pant is can be clearly seen here. Sarfaraz Khan wouldn’t have made it to the predicted 11 if Pant was there. But with Pant’s absence, not only he will have to do the wicket-keeping role, but will also have to fill the gap in the middle-order position. 

Finishers: Lalit Yadav, Rovman Powell and Axar Patel

Coming to the finishers, DC has 3 good names as following: Rovman Powell, Lalit Yadav, and Axar Patel. All three of them have good hitting skills which will bring good jump in the lower-order. In addition, Lalit Yadav and Axar Patel will have the spin bowling duty depending on their shoulders. Even Rovman Powell has the capability bowl, but he is more of a part-time all-rounder cricketer. 

Bowlers: Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Mukesh Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed

Finally, discussing about the bowlers, Delhi Capitals have spinners like Kuldeep Yadav and Pacers like Mukesh Kumar, Anrich Nortje and Khaleel Ahmed. It’s a great situation for Delhi as three of their four bowlers are left-handed. Anrich Nortje and Kuldeep Yadav are one of the team’s best pacer and spinner respectively. While Khaleel Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar are some good swing bowlers to spread exploitation the powerplay. 

DC full squad for IPL 2023:

Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Sarfaraz Khan, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Mustafizur Rahman, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed,  Lalit Yadav, Ripal Patel, Chetan Sakariya, Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Pravin Dubey, Lungi Ngidi, Vicky Ostwal, Aman Khan, Phil Salt, Ishant Sharma, Manish Pandey and Rilee Rossouw

Strengths and weaknesses of Delhi Capitals:

Delhi Capitals Strength is in its foreign cricket stars. The qualities of Warner, Marsh, Rilee Rossouw, Anrich Nortje, Phil Salt, Mustafizur Rahman and Rovman Powell are some huge names in the IPL tournament. This is a huge advantage for Delhi based franchise.

Weaknesses count too many openers in the DC squad. David Warner, Salt, Shaw and Rossouw these all players are comfortable opening the innings of the match in the shortest format of the game. With Pant’s absence also in the playing eleven the middle-order becomes weak. Moreover, there is no experienced Indian pacer in the team except Ishan Sharma.

 Full schedule Delhi Capitals Team IPL 2023

• LSG vs DC: April 1 in Lucknow (at 7:30 PM IST)
• DC vs GT: April 4 in Delhi (at 7:30 PM IST)
• RR vs DC: April 8 in Guwahati (at 3:30 PM IST)
• DC vs MI: April 11 in Delhi (at 7:30 PM IST)
• RCB vs DC: April 15 in Bengaluru (at 3:30 PM IST)
• DC vs KKR: April 20 in Delhi (at 7:30 PM IST)
• SRH vs DC: April 24 in Hyderabad (at 7:30 PM IST)
• DC vs SRH: April 29 in Delhi (at 7:30 PM IST)
• GT vs DC: May 2 in Ahmedabad (at 7:30 PM IST)
• DC vs RCB: May 6 in Delhi (at 7:30 PM IST)
• CSK vs DC: May 10 in Chennai (at 7:30 PM IST)
• DC vs PBKS: May 13 in Delhi (at 7:30 PM IST)
• PBKS vs DC: May 17 in Dharamsala (at 7:30 PM IST)
• DC vs CSK: May 20 in Delhi (at 3:30 PM IST)

Also read: https://criccrunch.com/csk-squad-and-playing-11-in-ipl-2023/

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