IPL 2021: Delhi Capitals name Shams Mulani short-term replacement for Axar Patel

Delhi Capitals are set to rope in Shams Mulani as short-term COVID-19 replacement for Axar Patel, while Anirudha Joshi has replaced injured Shreyas Iyer in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

"Mulani, a left-handed batsman and a slow left-arm orthodox bowler from Mumbai comes in as a replacement under VIVO IPL's Player Regulations. Under Regulation 6.1 (c), franchises are allowed to sign a short-term replacement player until the original squad member is permitted to re-enter the team's bio-secure environment. Hence, Mulani will only be a part of the Delhi Capitals side until Axar recovers and is allowed to join the team," the IPL media release said.

Like Axar, Mulani is a left-handed batsman and a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. Having made his professional debut in 2018, Mulani has played 25 Twenty20 (T20) matches for Mumbai in the domestic circuit, while he has also made 10 First-Class and 30 List-A appearances for Mumbai.

The 24-year-old Mulani has picked up 24 wickets in the T20s, while he has also scored 91 runs at a strike-rate of 121.33.

Meanwhile, Karnataka's 33-year-old Anirudha Joshi has been named Delhi captain Iyer's replacement. Iyer was ruled out of the IPL 2021 after he injured his shoulder during India's One-Day International (ODI) series against England earlier this year. As a result, Rishabh Pant was named the captain for the 14th edition of the tournament.

Joshi, who is a middle-order batsman and off-spinner, has previously represented Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian T20 league. He has scored 420 runs in 22 T20 games at an average of 32.30 and a strike-rate of 127.65. He has also picked up six wickets in the shortest format of the game.

On IPL captaincy debut, Pant led DC to a superb seven-wicket victory over three-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to get off the mark in the ongoing tournament. Delhi played their maiden IPL final last season, when the tournament was shifted to the UAE amid the rising COVID-19 cases in India. The Iyer-led side could not win the trophy as they had lost the final to the most successful team in the IPL – Mumbai Indians (MI).