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Australia's Steve Smith has finally got an opportunity to make his debut for the Delhi Capitals (DC) after warming the bench for the last two matches. The 31-year-old was roped into the XI in place of Tom Curran, who had mediocre outings in the previous two games.
Skipper Rishabh Pant handed over the DC cap to Steve Smith as all the other team members applauded. Along with Steve, Lukman Meriwala was also presented with his IPL debut for this game against the Punjab Kings (PBKS).
Twitterati, though, had mixed reactions about DC going for Steve Smith. Many fans expressed their excitement about watching one of the best batters in the world in action.
However, some seemed disappointed that Smith got the nod ahead of Shimron Hetmyer, Sam Billings and Anrich Nortje.
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Steve Smith's great run in the Marsh Cup
Steve Smith has been in great form with the bat of late. The former Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper was among the runs in Australia's domestic 50-over competition - the Marsh Cup.
Representing New South Wales in two games this season, he returned with great numbers. In the first match against Victoria, the No.3 batsman notched up a century, scoring 127 runs.
In the recent game against Queensland played on March 31, Smith scored an unbeaten 86.
Steve Smith didn't have a great IPL season last year. He only scored 311 runs in 14 matches at an average of 25.91 and was sacked by the Rajasthan franchise after the end of the season.
He's got a point to prove in IPL 2021, and he'd like to make an impact for the Delhi Capitals.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Kings made one change for this encounter. Batting all-rounder Jalaj Saxena makes his IPL debut and has replaced Murugan Ashwin.
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, Rishabh Pant (c)(wk), Marcus Stoinis, Lalit Yadav, Chris Woakes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Lukman Meriwala
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): KL Rahul (c)(wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Jalaj Saxena, Mohammed Shami, Riley Meredith, Arshdeep Singh
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