IPL 2021: 'These conditions are difficult for anyone' - Ajit Agarkar on Marcus Stoinis' return to Delhi Capitals XI

On papers, this appears to be the best DC playing XI, but former India cricketer Ajit Agarkar added that it will still be difficult for Marcus Stoinis to get going straight away after missing so many games as Sharjah is a difficult venue.

Delhi Capitals fans received a piece of good news on Wednesday as DC captain Rishabh Pant announced at the toss that Marcus Stoinis is returning to the playing XI, replacing Tom Curran. Stoinis was injured in DC's first game of the UAE leg - and his absence has affected the balance of theDelhi team.

File image of Marcus Stoinis.(IPL)

After losing the toss, and being asked to bat first, DC captain Rishabh Pant announced the change.

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"We would have bowled first. It's fine, we can't be thinking about the toss too much, so let's play some good cricket today. There's nothing we wanted to change from the last game, just one or two overs here and there would have done us the job. We needed an extra batsman in these kinds of tracks, so Stoinis comes in. Tom Curran is out. We are in a great frame of mind, always exciting to play together, always having alot of fun, looking to have fun during the match also," he said.

On papers, this appears to be the best DC playing XI, but former India cricketer Ajit Agarkar added that it will still be difficult for Marcus Stoinis to get going straight away after missing so many games as Sharjah is a difficult venue.

"You never know, because he has not played. We don't know if he is going to bowl. If he is not going to bowl, then he will be playing as a pure batsman," Agarkar said on Star Sports.

"These conditions are difficult for anyone, it does not matter how good you are. Because walking in, you have to make a difference. This is their strongest XI - but it depends. If Stoinis is going to bowl, it gives them an extra option, which could very handy," he added.

Teams:

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan, Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakaravarthy