May 5: Delhi Capitals v Sunrisers Hyderabad, 50th Match, Brabourne Stadium
Safe XI: Rishabh Pant, David Warner (vice-capt), Mitchell Marsh, Rahul Tripathi, Prithvi Shaw, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Kuldeep Yadav (capt), Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan, Umran Malik
Captain: Kuldeep Yadav
After winning three Man-of-the-Match awards in as many outings at Brabourne Stadium this season, Kuldeep is an automatic captaincy choice for our safe XI. Nine of his 17 wickets in this season have come at this venue at an economy of 6.41 and an average of 8.55.
Vice-captain: David Warner
Warner is up against his former side Sunrisers for the first time after his departure last season, where he finished as the their leading run-scorer in the IPL. He is also Capitals' leading run-getter this season with 264 runs in seven games at a strike rate of 156.21. His two scores at this venue earlier this season are 60* (30) and 61 (45).
Hot Picks
Abhishek Sharma: The 21-year-old Sunrisers batter has been a revelation this season, scoring 324 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 134.43, the joint-fourth leading run-scorer this season. He has been phenomenal against spinners, scoring 120 runs at a strike rate of 169.01 with three dismissals. He also has six 30-plus scores this season, the joint-most for any batter, which speaks about his consistency
T Natarajan: With 17 wickets in nine innings at a strike rate of 12.3, the left-arm pacer from Sunrisers is the joint-second leading wicket-taker in this season. Eight of those 17 wickets have come in death overs this season, making him the second highest wicket-taker in this phase after Dwayne Bravo this season. He has also taken a couple of three-fors at this venue earlier in this season.
Differential Picks
Mitchell Marsh: The Australia allrounder at 8.5 credits is a steal in your safe XI especially after the way he played in the last game, scoring 37 off 20 balls. Since 2021, he has been a much-improved batter scoring 1245 runs in 42 T20s at an average of 40.16 and a strike rate of 138.48.
Shardul Thakur: Thakur has blown hot and cold in his first season for Capitals but bowled well in their last game, picking up three for 40 in a high-scoring game, and was also the only wicket-taker for his side. He has also contributed crucial runs with the bat too, with scores of 22 (11) and 29 (11) this season.
High Risk XI: Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant, David Warner, Rahul Tripathi (vice-capt), Abhishek Sharma, Azar Patel, Aiden Markram, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mustafizur Rahman, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan (Capt).