Delhi Capitals (DC) are without Axar Patel in the virtual knockout against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday (May 21). DC vice-captain Faf du Plessis is leading the side in the star all-rounder's absence.

Faf revealed that Axar has been sick for the last couple of days and hence misses out. Faf made a candid admission at the toss and stated that it is impossible to replace Axar and described him as two players in one.

Uncapped Indian all-rounder Madhav Tiwari has taken Axar Patel's place in the playing XI.This is officially Tiwari's IPL and DC debut. While he featured in the abandoned fixture against Punjab Kings (PBKS) that will not count as an appearance officially.

Quite interestingly, KL Rahul, who has kept wickets for DC in majority of their matches this season is not part of the main XI. However, he is expected to come on as the impact sub during DC's run-chase.

At the start of the season, DC had revealed that Faf would be their vice-captain a few days after confirming Axar Patel as their new captain, despite many expecting Rahul to get a leadership role.

Axar's absence is a big blow for the Capitals as it is a must-win clash for them. If DC lose, MI will seal qualification. However, a victory will leave things in their own hands and they will qualify for the playoffs with a win over Punjab Kings (PBKS).

MI Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (WK), Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah

MI Impact Sub Nomination: Karn Sharma,Corbin Bosch, Raj Bawa, Ashwani Kumar, Satyanarayana Raju

DC Playing XI: Faf du Plessis, Abhishek Porel (WK), Sameer Rizvi, Madhav Tiwari, Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Kuldeep Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera

DC Impact Sub Nomination: KL Rahul, Sediqullah Atal, Karun Nair, Tripurana Vijay, Manvanth Kumar L