Why is Mukesh Kumar not playing today's DC vs KKR IPL 2024 match? 

Delhi Capitals (DC) pacer Mukesh Kumar is not part of the playing XI for the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) clash against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The fixture is set to get underway soon at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Vishakapatnam on Wednesday.

Mukesh had a huge say in DC's recent win over the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at home. Introduced into the attack in the second half of CSK's innings, he accounted for the wickets of Ajinkya Rahane, Sameer Rizvi, and Shivam Dube to keep CSK at bay. He helped DC secure a 20-run win, their first win of the season.

He recorded figures of 3/21 in DC's pace heavy attack, and continued his good form that was built during the off-season, where he represented India across all formats.

However, Mukesh Kumar has apparently sustained an injury, which makes him unavailable for the contest against KKR. DC skipper Rishabh Pant confirmed the same during the toss after being put into bowl first by Shreyas Iyer.

"We would have batted first too but not thinking about. Personally, it was satisfying but I don't want to look too much forward. The bowlers did a fantastic job in the powerplay and we would love to do that again and the batters did a great job as well. In the start we felt Prithvi wasn't ready but he worked hard in the last few weeks and we wanted to give him a chance. Definitely love to be playing here in Vishakapatnam. We have one change. Sumit comes in as Mukesh is injured," Pant said.

Mukesh Kumar has been an on-and-off presence in the DC playing XI in the 2024 season so far. He was not part of the side that lost to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in DC's season opener at Mullanpur. The pacer made his first appearance of the season during DC's loss to the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur, where he conceded 49 runs off four overs while accounting for Yashasvi Jaiswal's wicket.

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Who has replaced Mukesh Kumar in the DC playing XI?

All-rounder Sumit Kumar has been named as Mukesh Kumar's replacement in the playing XI by DC skipper Rishabh Pant. The 28-year-old scored two runs off nine deliveries, and bowled 1.2 overs against PBKS. He was part of the playing XI for the clash against RR as well, but did not get a chance to showcase his talent with the bat or ball.

Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Tristan Stubbs, Sumit Kumar, Axar Patel, Anrich Nortje, Rasikh Salam Dar, Ishant Sharma, and Khaleel Ahmed.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Phil Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, and Varun Chakravarthy.