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IPL 2021, PBKS vs DC: KL Rahul misses out, Dawid Malan makes Punjab Kings debut in place of struggling Nicholas Pooran
IPL 2021: In place of KL Rahul, who was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and missed out on the contest, Punjab Kings handed captaincy to Mayank Agarwal.
Punjab Kings had to sit out their captain KL Rahul from the Indian Premier League 2021 contest against Delhi Capitals on Sunday. Rahul had smashed 91* for PBKS in the previous match against Royal Challengers Bangalore but he was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and was rushed to a hospital in Mumbai for surgery.
It remains unclear whether Rahul will be available for the remainder of the tournament. On Sunday, Mayank Agarwal donned the captain's hat in his place as he came out for the toss alongside DC captain Rishabh Pant.
PBKS vs DC Live Score, IPL 2021
Apart from Rahul, the struggling PBKS batsman Nicholas Pooran was also dropped out and England allrounder Dawid Malan was given his maiden cap.
"It's sad and we are gonna miss him (KL) but it is what it is. We have to go out and play good cricket. We won the last game we played, so we are high on confidence," Mayank said at the toss after Pant elected to bowl.
"I can hope that it gets a little lower and slower as the game progresses. But it's good to set target and then defend it. (On captaining) Really looking forward to the responsibility, we have spoken about going out there, enjoying ourselves, playing some fierce and aggressive cricket with smile on our faces. We've got Malan in for Pooran," he added.
Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals made no changes to their playing XI. "We are going to bowl first. the wicket looks similar. We are doing good as a team. We are only focusing on our process. Yes, there is a lot of improvement to make but each and every day, we just try to learn from our game and move forward," Pant said at the toss.
"I am enjoying every bit of it (captaincy) because there are so many senior players in our team who are helping me, especially Ricky. It's going good so far. We are playing with the same team," he signed off.
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Mayank Agarwal(c), Prabhsimran Singh(w), Chris Gayle, Dawid Malan, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Chris Jordan, Riley Meredith, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan
