The squad crisis at Delhi Capitals has gotten bigger after South African batsman Faf du Plessis became the latest foreign player to pull out of the Indian Premier League.
The veteran opening batsman joins the likes of Mitchell Starc, Donovan Ferreira, and Jake Fraser-McGurk in deciding against flying back for the IPL 2025 resumption.
Opening crisis for DC
With Du Plessis refusing to return for the remainder of the IPL, DC will be scrambling to find openers for their side.
Australian opener Jake Fraser-McGurk also opted out from returning to India after he was reportedly rattled by the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.
This leaves DC to look toward Karun Nair, KL Rahul, and Abishek Porel to put their hands up to open the innings for them as the Delhi side still has three games left in the group stage.
Du Plessis has had a lukewarm season in IPL 2025. He missed a few matches, early on in the season, due to an unknown injury and his tally for the season is 168 runs in six innings at an average of 28.00 and a strike rate of 128.24.
While he has scored two half centuries, his returns are less than optimal for a team chasing their maiden IPL title.
Foreign uncertainity
DC’s problems with foreign personnel isn’t restricted to the above players.
Bangladesh’s left arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman, who was roped in as Fraser-McGurk’s replacement, is unsure of his availability as the Bangladesh Cricket Board has not yet given him a non-objection certificate (NOC).
According to reports, the BCB says it has not yet been approached for an NOC for the fast bowler, who is currently on national duty in Sharjah for a T20I series against the UAE.
South African Tristan Stubbs’ availability will be limited to DC’s remaining leagues fixtres as he will depart for the World Test Championship final against Australia, which starts on June 11 at Lord’s cricket ground.
This leaves DC with only Sediqullah Atal, who replaced Harry Brook after the English batter opted out of IPL 2025, Dushmantha Chameera, and Stubbs (only for league stage) as their only overseas players.
DC plays Gujarat Titans on May 18, Sunday, at the Arun Jaitley stadium at 7:30 pm.
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