Dubai, Oct 4 (IANS): Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings in Match 50 of IPL 2021 at the Dubai International Stadium here on Monday.

Pant, who turns 24 today, said that Gujarat all-rounder Ripal Patel will be making his IPL debut, replacing Steve Smith in the playing eleven. "The wicket might do a bit early, so better bowling first. We just need to focus on the basics, continue doing what we have been doing, want to finish in the top two."

Chennai captain MS Dhoni said that Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar and Robin Uthappa come into the playing eleven in place of Sam Curran, KM Asif and Suresh Raina (bad left knee). "We were looking to bat first, but we were not 100% sure, the wicket seems to be tacky. We are trying to rest players who have some niggles, top-two is important, if you have a bad day in the qualifiers, you have another chance to make a comeback."

Playing XIs

Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (captain and wicketkeeper), Shimron Hetmyer, Ripal Patel, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Avesh Khan

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar and Josh Hazlewood