New Delhi:Abishek Porel missed out on the Delhi Capitals' first game of the Indian Premier League 2026 season against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on April 1. Porel was a regular player for DC last year, playing in 13 of their 14 games.
Last year, Porel played as a floater in the middle order and at the top. He also opened six times. He joined Jake-Fraser McGurk at the top last time. But he didn't get picked for DC's first game against the Super Giants in Lucknow.
Why isn't Porel playing for DC in the LSG game?It's most likely that Porel's absence from the LSG game is a strategic move. Axar Patel had already said that would be the Capitals' opening act this year. They had more choices for the second opener's spot, like Pathum Nissanka. Nissanka got the call over Shaw and Porel for the LSG game.
DC chose to bowl first against LSG.Axar Patel, the captain of DC, won the toss and said that the Capitals would be bowling first. "We'll start by bowling." It's a red solid wicket for the first match, so it might help in the first six overs. The numbers say that the team that bats first wins a lot of games, but we thought it was the first game and we would bowl. We did well at first, but we lost our way in the middle. We're not thinking too far ahead. Axar said at the toss, "Nissanka, Miller, Stubbs, and our four overseas players."
Rishabh Pant, the captain of LSG, said that it doesn't matter if they bat or bowl first at this venue. "I don't think it matters on a wicket like this, you know." He said, "It's always good to get what you want, but not much is going to change except for the next game."
Pant talked about how the LSG jersey, logo, and color changed. "I think it's a whole new energy for sure." You know, we have changed our color, logo, and definitely the way we think. We definitely had some good things happen last year, and we are still working on the bad things. But also feeling good at the same time. That's all I'm going to say: I'm feeling good and ready to go. There were a lot of worries about injuries and other things last season, but as a cricketer and captain, you don't think about them too much. But yes, we’re gonna like take learning from the last season, but I think the
Pant talked about how his team worked together. "You know, everyone is willing to go on the field and just make an impact. "I think almost three overseas are the same, but Nortje is in, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Nicholas Pant, you know, we have changed his name to Nicholas Pant and Nortje for sure," he said.