CSK vs DC: Delhi opt to bat in Chennai

Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Axar Patel won the toss and chose to bat against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in an IPL 2025 match at M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday afternoon (April 5).

Also watch: Fans reaction from CSK vs DC match

CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has recovered from an injury and is leading the side. On the eve of the match CSK batting coach Michael Hussey had said if Gaikwad is ruled out, then M S Dhoni would captain the Chennai franchise, and this had excited the fans.

Faf du Plessis is not playing for DC as he is not fit. Sameer Rizvi is in. For CSK, Devon Conway and Mukesh Choudhary are in the Playing XI while Jamie Overton and Rahul Tripathi miss out.

What captains said at the toss

“We are going to bat first. Feels like there'll be help for the bowlers. It's an afternoon game and we expect it to get slower in the second innings. When you are winning, the atmosphere in the dressing room will obviously be good. In our team, we have a few players who have captained other franchises and their inputs help me a lot. Same combination - three fast bowlers and three spinners,” Axar said.

Gaikwad said, “We were looking to bat first as well. It is a good wicket, looks a bit dry. It's a bit cloudy, I don't think it'll change too much. You always want momentum in T20 cricket, we haven't got it in the last two games. Last game was an improved performance in terms of batting and bowling. The fielding wasn't up to the mark. Everyone is eager to have a massive improvement. Overall, the chat has been positive. Batting and bowling, you'll have an off day in a tournament like IPL. Fielding is something which we can improve day by day. We may not be the greatest fielding side, but we want to be proactive, we want to save those 10-15 runs so that it'll be easier to chase. Elbow is good.”

Playing XIs

Chennai Super Kings: Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana.

Impact Subs: Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Shaik Rasheed, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Nathan Ellis.

Delhi Capitals: Jake Fraser-McGurk, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel (captain), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma.

Impact Subs: Mukesh Kumar, Karun Nair, Darshan Nalkande, Donovan Ferreira, Tripurana Vijay.