Lucknow, Apr 1 (IANS): Delhi Capitals won the toss and chose to bowl first against Lucknow Super Giants in their opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, here on Saturday.
Delhi Capitals skipper David Warner said they want to be sure of what to chase as this is the first match on this pitch. "Going to have a bowl. For us it's about trying to assess conditions early and knowing what to chase," he said.
Warner said they will take a call on the Impact Player at the appropriate time. "It can be quite confusing, maybe stressful at times (impact player). I'm excited to be back. Playing in front of a big crowd is quite exciting," Warner said adding that the players have sent their best wishes to regular skipper Rishabh Pant, who is still recovering from a car accident.
Lucknow Super Giants captain K.L Rahul said they are going into their first match without many expectations as they have not played too many games at their home ground.
However, he hoped that they would be able to build it into a fortress where home advantage will work for them.
"That's how most IPL teams work. They want to make their home ground their fortress. We're as clueless as the opposition. We haven't played here. We're going in with no expectations. For all you know, it might be a good batting wicket," Rahul said after the toss.
He hoped that the Impact Player rule turns out to be a good change for the game. "It's new (Impact Player). Still getting used to it. It gives teams a chance to be in the game or come back in the game. It's fun. Hopefully, it's a good change," said Rahul.
Playing XIs:
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c), Kyle Mayers, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Ayush Badoni, Mark Wood, Jaydev Unadkat, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan.
Delhi Capitals: David Warner (c), Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, Rilee Rossouw, Sarfaraz Khan (wk), Rovman Powell, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Chetan Sakariya, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar.