Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel won the toss and elected to bowl against Lucknow Super Giants in their IPL 2026 clash at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, with focus on LSG skipper Rishabh Pant, who will be looking to deliver after an underwhelming debut season as leader.
Pant, who was bought for Rs 27 crore, had a difficult first year with the franchise, struggling both as captain and frontline batter, with injuries to key players, especially fast bowlers, compounding LSG’s challenges.
However, the side enters the new season with a fully fit squad, strengthened by the addition of experienced pacers Mohammed Shami and Anrich Nortje.
Delhi Capitals, meanwhile, will be aiming for greater consistency after missing out on the playoffs last season despite a strong start. The side experimented with as many as seven opening combinations and now appears more settled at the top of the order.
“It doesn't matter on a wicket like this, it won't change a lot as I don't think dew will come. It's completely new - we've changed our colour and logo. No negative thoughts, we're feeling good and raring to go. Last season there were injury concerns, but as a captain you can't dwell on them too much. Everyone is fit this time around. Markram, Marsh, Nicholas Pooran and Anrich Nortje are our four overseas players,” Pant said.
Playing XIs:
Delhi Capitals: KL Rahul (w), Pathum Nissanka, Nitish Rana, Axar Patel (c), Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Vipraj Nigam, Lungi Ngidi, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar.
Lucknow Super Giants: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (w/c), Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Mohsin Khan, Mohammed Shami, Anrich Nortje, Prince Yadav.
Impact substitutes:
Delhi Capitals: Ashutosh Sharma, Auqib Nabi, Sameer Rizvi, Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair.
Lucknow Super Giants: Digvesh Rathi, Avesh Khan, Himmat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akshat Raghuvanshi.