IPL 2023: Porel handed debut as Gujarat Titans win toss, elect to bowl first against Delhi Capitals

New Delhi: Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first against Delhi Capitals in Match Seven of IPL 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

Capitals are playing their first home game of the season after 2019 while the Titans are featuring in their first away match of the tournament, with the pitch described to be a flat one with a slight tinge of grass.

After winning the toss, Pandya said South Africa batter David Miller and uncapped India batter B. Sai Sudharsan come in for injured Kane Williamson, who is ruled out of the tournament, and all-rounder Vijay Shankar.

“Not sure how the wicket is going to play. Obviously losing Kane — we’re gutted. Especially for him. As a team, we can manage but are gutted for him. Not much talking in our team. Just about keeping things simple and focusing on controllable. Pitch looks fantastic. Dew might kick in later.”

Delhi skipper David Warner said young wicketkeeper-batter Abishek Porel will make his IPL debut, with Anrich Nortje coming in for Rovman Powell, along with Khaleel Ahmed and Chetan Sakariya relegated to impact player substitutes.

“Just bat better, bowl better and field better than the opposition. Have to come out with positive intent and post a good total. It’s awesome. What a good turnout it is tonight. Hopefully, we can make it our fortress.”

Playing XIs:

Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner (c), Mitchell Marsh, Rilee Rossouw, Sarfaraz Khan, Axar Patel, Abishek Porel (wk), Aman Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje and Mukesh Kumar

Substitutes: Chetan Sakariya, Khaleel Ahmed, Manish Pandey, Lalit Yadav and Rovman Powell

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Josh Little, Yash Dayal and Alzarri Joseph.

Substitutes: R. Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar, K.S. Bharat

(IANS)