Delhi Capitals have started their campaign this year with a dominating win over the Chennai Super Kings and they are set to face Rajasthan Royals in their second fixture of the season. For Royals, Stokes' absence will force Rajasthan to not just dig deep to find a replacement from their overseas lot but also come up with a new plan as far as their batting line-up is concerned. Stokes opened the innings with Manan Vohra against Punjab Kings but it seems like Jos Buttler would now take up the opening spot left vacant by the England all-rounder.
Sanju Samson, who scored the season's first century in the match, is likely to continue at the No. 3 spot while South African batsman David Miller is likely to be drafted in the team as Stokes' replacement. Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia and Shivam Dube will complete the batting unit. Among the other overseas options in the team, there are the likes of Andrew Tye and Liam Livingstone but both are expected to warm the bench for this contest.
For the Capitals, Rabada will be available which means Tom Curran could be the one to miss out. Prithvi Shaw has been in fine form ever since he was dropped from the Indian test squad and has worked a lot on his batting technique. Shaw played brilliant innings at the top in the first game against Chennai Super Kings. After registering a comprehensive victory against Chennai Super Kings, Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals will be high on confidence.
RR Likely Playing XI: Jos Buttler, Manan Vohra, Sanju Samson (c, wk), David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya.
DC Predicted XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Woakes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan
