Aakash Chopra has expressed surprise at the Delhi Capitals' decision to include Kagiso Rabada at the expense of Shimron Hetmyer in their playing XI against the Rajasthan Royals.

Rabada sat out the Delhi Capitals' first IPL 2021 encounter against the Chennai Super Kings as he was serving his quarantine period. With last season's Purple Cap winner being available for the clash against the Royals, the Rishabh Pant-led outfit decided to rejig their lineup.

While talking about the Delhi Capitals team changes in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra expressed surprise at the exclusion of Hetmyer.

"The team changes were very interesting. They dropped Hetmyer, why they did that, I don't understand because the batting became extremely short because of that," said Chopra.

The reputed commentator pointed out Rabada should have ideally replaced Tom Curran in the Delhi Capitals playing XI as they already had plenty of bowling options.

"Rabada became available, which was a fantastic thing. One overseas player had to go out with Rabada coming in, I thought Tom Curran will go out because they had enough bowling options with four pacers in Avesh, Chris Woakes, Rabada and Stoinis. Other than that they had Ravichandran Ashwin and they had played another spinner in the form of Amit Mishra last time," added Chopra.

Aakash Chopra elaborated the Delhi Capitals lacked quality in their lower-middle order in the absence of Hetmyer.

"If you see the batting order - Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Marcus Stoinis - with Lalit Yadav, Chris Woakes and Tom Curran at No.6 to 8. It is looking a very weak batting lineup, so I was very surprised," observed Chopra.

It was certainly an astonishing decision by the Delhi Capitals to leave out Shimron Hetmyer. The problem was compounded when the IPL 2020 runners-up lost their first four wickets with just 37 runs on the board to put additional pressure on their fragile batting lineup.

Aakash Chopra on the other change in the Delhi Capitals playing XI

Aakash Chopra also questioned the inclusion of Lalit Yadav at the expense of Amit Mishra, with the former's off-spin likely to be ineffective on a batsmen-friendly track in Mumbai.

"They dropped Mishra and played Lalit Yadav. Lalit Yadav is a batsman who bowls off-spin and not leg-spin. So Ashwin and Lalit Yadav as off-spinners on a pitch in Wankhede, a small ground," said Chopra.

While observing that the Delhi Capitals might have included Yadav to add depth to their batting, Aakash Chopra concluded by terming it an incorrect move.

"Why not a wrist-spinner, I don't know. Maybe because since they dropped Hetmyer, they will need Lalit's batting. Again a wrong tactic," signed off Chopra.

Lalit Yadav helped Rishabh Pant resurrect the Delhi Capitals innings with a 51-run partnership for the fifth wicket. However, he got out soon after his skipper's dismissal and did not get a chance to bowl during the Rajasthan Royals innings.