Bengaluru, April 9 Riding high on momentum with three consecutive wins, the Delhi Capitals will aim to extend their unbeaten streak as they face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their fourth match of IPL 2025 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
KL Rahul, who stepped up in the absence of Faf du Plessis, opened the innings in the previous outing and delivered a brisk 77 off 51 balls to guide Delhi Capitals to a convincing win over Chennai Super Kings.
Reflecting on Rahul's contributions and his batting ability, Assistant Coach Matthew Mott, during the pre-match presser, said, "If you ask any batter, they'd want to open. But look, we have to see what's best for the team. We've got a number of guys who can go and open. But I do think what separates KL (Rahul) from a lot of people in the group is his ability to bat anywhere. He's a class player. He showed that the other day."
Giving an update on Faf du Plessis' availability for Thursday's game, Mott said, "The beauty of the schedule so far for us is we've had some really good breaks and he's now had a good break. I think he'll get assessed today by the physios with a view to playing. He certainly looks like he's moving around a lot better from the naked eye without having a good look at him. So, if he's available or not I think we can adapt, given the depth we have in our team."
Speaking about the team's depth in the batting line-up, Mott added, "We're prepared with the depth that we've got. One of the things we have spoken a lot about in this group is the trend of teams being able to score despite losing wickets. The way teams used to look at it was having set batters at the back end. I think what's being shown a lot is the ability for impact players to come in at the back end and change games with high strike rates."
The Assistant Coach also lavished praise on skipper Axar Patel. "I found he's just got a great balance on cricket and life. A lot of the time, he'll just summarise the group and make sure the players are included. They're having fun and they've got a smile on their face. He talks a lot about that. We're well aware that when you're winning, it's all good. But I like to think he's got that character where if we do have a bad day, he'll be just as positive and the messages will be very similar."
"We mentioned KL and Faf as well. He's got a lot of experience to draw on. He doesn't come across as if he wants to be the only voice. He wants to leverage off others and make sure he's getting the best out of the people around him," he added.
The hosts, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, on the other hand, began their campaign with two back-to-back wins, followed by a loss, and bounced back with a win in their previous match. They are currently in third place on the points table, while Delhi Capitals are at the top of the table with six points from three matches. Both teams will square off against each other on Thursday.
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