Revealed: Why is Mukesh Kumar not playing today's match against KKR and who has replaced him?

Delhi Capitals will be without their star fast bowler Mukesh Kumar for the crucial game against Kolkata Knight Riders in Vishakhapatnam.

The Rishabh Pant-led side are eyeing their second win of the tournament after opening their account last week. DC started their campaign in IPL 2024 with two losses in a row. In the first two games, they suffered defeats against Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals before bouncing back with an impressive win over champions Chennai Super Kings.

Mukesh Kumar played a key role in the victory. The right-arm pacer picked up three wickets for just 21 runs in three overs to help DC win the game by 20 runs and get off the mark in IPL 2024. CSK were on 102 for 3 when Mukesh Kumar dismissed a well-set Ajinkya Rahane for 45. Later, he dismissed the dangerous Shivam Dube and Sameer Rizvi to leave CSK reeling at 120 for 6.

Mukesh Kumar not to play against KKR:

However, Mukesh Kumar won’t play against KKR on Wednesday (April 3), captain Rishabh Pant confirmed at the toss. The wicketkeeper-batsman also confirmed the reason behind the absence, saying that the pacer is sidelined with an injury and has been replaced by Sumit Kumar.

“We would have batted first as well, could get a bit slower. It was nice to be back with the group, but I’m not thinking too far ahead. Thew bowlers did a great job, the fast bowlers, and we’d like them to do it once again.

“Not thinking about the team combination for the first two games, but we’ve had people working hard in the nets. We just need to keep doing the right things – one change, Mukesh is injured and he’s replaced by Sumit,” said Rishabh Pant.

Playing XIs:

Delhi Capitals:

Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Sumit Kumar, Rasikh Dar Salam, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Philip Salt(w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy