Mustafizur Rahman drafted straight into Delhi Capitals XI for crucial IPL clash against Gujarat Titans

Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman has flown directly from Sharjah to India and will line up for Delhi Capitals tonight when they face Gujarat Titans, slotting in as the side’s lone left-arm quick after Mitchell Starc opted out of the tournament.

The 29-year-old received clearance from the Bangladesh Cricket Board to join the IPL with one match still remaining in the UAE-Bangladesh T20I series. Mustafizur made the most of his final international outing on Friday night, returning a miserly 2-for-17 from four overs in Bangladesh’s win over the UAE.

Delhi, currently fifth on the table with 13 points from 11 games, are targeting a playoff berth and view Mustafizur’s death-over expertise as key. After tonight’s fixture, the Capitals have two group matches left—against Mumbai Indians on 21 May and Punjab Kings on 24 May.

A strong finish would cement Delhi’s place in the top four; Mustafizur’s ability to swing the new ball and vary pace at the death is expected to fill the void left by Starc and bolster a fast-bowling unit led by captain Rishabh Pant’s tactical nous.

Teams:

Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Arshad Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, Sameer Rizvi, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mustafizur Rahman