KL Rahul has returned from paternity leave and will soon debut for Delhi Capitals (DC) in IPL 2025. The India gloveman missed the side’s tournament opener against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the birth of his first child but is likely to get included in the playing XI for their crucial tie against the travelling SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Vizag on Sunday afternoon. However, what worries DC is the fitness of Indian quick Mukesh Kumar, who sustained an ankle sprain in the previous game.

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Mukesh could likely sit out of the next game, with Delhi giving seamer Darshan Nalkande a chance against the daunting SRH batting unit, consisting of T20 monsters Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen. With Delhi also missing another Indian quick, T Natarajan, who is recovering from a shoulder injury, they could be forced to make some changes for their second match.

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Meanwhile, to ensure DC keeps their winning run going, they must strike a balance in their picked XI, with another option including replacing opener Jake Fraser-McGurk with a foreign seamer in Dushmantha Chameera. That would, however, make the DC bowling attack look dangerous, with the likes of Mitchell Starc, Axar Patel, Mohit Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav already retaining their places.

KL Rahul’s batting position

In an ideal situation, KL will bat at number four, replacing Sameer Rizvi, with McGurk, team vice-captain Faf du Plessis and gloveman Abishek Porel occupying the top three positions. With Axar and Tristan Stubbs to follow and Delhi likely to reuse Ashutosh Sharma as the Impact Sub playing at number seven, they have more than a decent batting attack to go after the SRH’s bowling.

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However, should DC drop McGurk for Chameera in another scenario, KL could open alongside du Plessis, and Sameer could retain his place at number four. 

Predicted Playing XIs of both teams –

Delhi Capitals: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel (wk), KL Rahul, Axar Patel (captain), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohit Sharma, (Impact - Mukesh Kumar/Darshan Nalkande)

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (captain), Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami and Simarjeet Singh (Impact sub - Adam Zampa)

(With inputs from agencies)