Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, have done an excellent job in restricting the oppositions but KKR's top-order batting has hurt them the most.
Delhi's strong batting line up of Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith and Pant himself will look to fire on all cylinders right from the opening game.
Images from the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals, in Ahmedabad, on Thursday.
Pandya's absence means that India will have to rejig their bowling attack. Jasprit Bumrah has already been rested for this series, as well as the tour of New Zealand, and this allows the think-tank to conduct one final experimentation with their bowling attack.
Young Rishabh Pant's dismissal in the penultimate over "changed things", according to India captain Virat Kohli.
The five-times World Cup winners face the tournament hosts to decide who will meet the winner of the first semi-final between India and New Zealand in Manchester on Tuesday.
Langer's side secured their spot in the last four with a 64-run win over hosts England at Lord's on Tuesday and return to the famous north London ground on Saturday to face neighbours New Zealand in their penultimate round-robin tie.
Rohit Sharma and Krunal Pandya's late cameos saw Mumbai Indians snatch a thrilling six-wicket victory against Kings XI Punjab to keep their hopes alive, in the Indian Premier League, in Indore, on Friday.
IMAGES from the IPL match played between Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants in Pune on Tuesday.
'Russell did well in the fielding and ran me out, we lost three wickets in the last over and the match got out of our hands'
Desperate to get their campaigns back on track, the two bottom placed teams in the Indian Premier League -- Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore -- lock horns in Mohali on Monday, aiming to keep their winning momentum going to stay afloat in the ninth edition of the T20 league.
Australia made a stuttering start to coach Justin Langer's tenure as they lost by three wickets to England in the opening match of the one-day series at The Oval.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index of IPL 2023 after Game 33.
Kane Richardson will take his place in the 15-man squad for the tour, which starts with two Twenty20 matches later this month and is being used a warm-up for their World Cup title defence in England.
IMAGES from the 2nd ODI played between Australia and India at Adelaide on Tuesday
Australia will need their top order to fire against New Zealand's disciplined attack and persist with four specialist bowlers.
Wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade thought the T20 World Cup semifinal against Pakistan would "potentially be his last opportunity to represent Australia" before becoming the star of the show with a sizzling 41-run knock that helped his side reach the final.
It was only a fourth win in 20 one-dayers going back to June 2017 for world champions Australia and came at the same Sydney Cricket Ground where their first home Test series loss to India was sealed on Monday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday.
'As you see, we have been lacking in the starts in the majority of our games, that's what we need to work on going forward, we have leaked a lot of runs in the powerplay so we need to get tighter in that aspect as well, majority of the things will be same next season.'
Having suffered back-to-back defeats against Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Capitals will aim to get back to winning ways against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
A tumultuous nets session at Old Trafford left one Australian batsman ruled out of the Cricket World Cup and another screaming in pain but coach Justin Langer said the hard training would pay dividends on the field.
'It's a wake up call', said Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer as he urged his team's batsmen, with the exception of an in-form Shikhar Dhawan, to take more responsibility following a surprise IPL loss to Kings XI Punjab in Dubai.
The nail-biting win over defending champions Mumbai Indians was certainly a morale-lifter but the inconsistent Kings XI Punjab have another tough battle at hand when they take on table toppers Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League, in Dubai, on Tuesday.
Images from the third ODI between India and Australia in Chennai on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka have not played a match at the World Cup since June 4, forced to split points with Bangladesh and Pakistan following two washed out games.
For any bowling unit, facing the Dhawan-Shaw duo is a scary proposition.
Rishabh Pant's brute power will be put to test against Rashid Khan's bagful of tricks in an IPL encounter where Delhi Capitals will start as favourites against SunRisers Hyderabad due to their better bowling resources.
The match, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, will also be a face-off between skippers KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, both seen as future India captaincy material.
Stoinis conceded 15 runs which included three fours, taking RR from 58/5 to 73/5 to effectively shift the momentum.
Images from the IPL match between Delhi Capitals and SunRisers Hyderabad, in Chennai, on Sunday.
Skipper Manish Pandey's valiant century was in vain as India 'A' lost to Australia 'A' by one run in a high-scoring Quadrangular cricket series thriller in Mackay, Australia, on Tuesday.
For Hyderabad, KXIP encounter is the last game where they can avail the services of Warner before he leaves home for Australia's World Cup preparations alongside Steven Smith and Marcus Stoinis.
A look at how the teams stack up ahead of the mega auction.
Pacer Mohsin Khan picked up four wickets as Lucknow Super Giants outclassed Delhi Capitals by six runs, to inch closer to the IPL play-offs, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Will Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa both play the 1st ODI in Chennai on Sunday?
Peter Handscomb struck his maiden ODI hundred and Ashton Turner smashed a blistering 84 not out to secure Australia's series-levelling four-wicket victory against India in the high-scoring fourth one-day international in Mohali on Sunday.
SunRisers Hyderabad has the biggest purse while Kolkata Knight Riders has the slimmest purse.
Glenn Maxwell blasted an unbeaten 113 from 55 balls to guide Australia to a seven-wicket win over India that sealed a 2-0 away T20I series victory.
Rediff.com brings you a wrap of big stories in pictures with the Best Sports Photos of the Week.
