Explained: Why Yuzvendra Chahal isn’t playing for Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals

In Match 66 of the ongoing Indian Premier League, Punjab Kings are set to face Delhi Capitals at a neutral venue at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The teams will continue the match from the HPCA stadium, where the match between the two franchises was called off due to security concerns amidst the India-Pakistan Border tensions. Winning the toss, the then Captain, Faf du Plessis, opted to bowl first and asked the Shreyas-led Punjab Kings to bat first. 

The Delhi Capitals skipper, Axar Patel, missed his second match of the season due to health issues and in his absence, Faf has been appointed on-field captain for the match. Announcing the changes in the squad, Shreyas chose to drop Yuzvendra chahal from the playing XI despite his brilliant performance in last matches. Karun Nair returns to the playing XI for the Capitals, while the Kings bring back Marcus Stoinis and Josh Inglis. Meanwhile, Abishek Porel misses out for the Capitals.

Why Yuzvendra Chahal is not playing vs the Delhi Capitals? 

Punjab Kings have made some interesting changes to the squad, and welcomed Marcus Stoinis and Josh Inglis to the playing XI, whereas the consistent performer, Yuzvendra, was dropped from the playing XI of today’s clash. He was not announced in the playing XI as he was part of the Impact Player list, which means that the player won’t be playing today. 

The reason behind the exclusion is still unknown, and there is no clarity around why he was dropped from the playing XI today. It may be because of any injury or because of his hot and cold performance throughout the season.

PBKS vs DC: Captains’ Thoughts

Faf du Plessis: “We will have a bowl first. Nah! It was a 50-50 decision. It is more to do with our team combination. We are playing an extra batter. Very frustrating to be honest. We have played enough T20 cricket to understand it. We were excellent in the previous game for until 16-17 overs. We bowled beautifully. 100%. We are playing for the 5th spot.”

Shreyas Iyer (Punjab Kings Captain): “It is definitely happy faces around. Everyone from team management and the owners are happy with the Q coming in for us.  But personally, I am not satisfied and not content. We want to build a momentum from hereon. Each and every individual stepping up from here will give us a major boost. “

PBKS vs DC: Playing XI

Punjab Kings Playing XI

Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Josh Inglis, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep

Delhi Capitals Playing XI 

Faf du Plessis (c), Sediqullah Atal, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs (wk), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mustafizur Rahman, Mukesh Kumar