Jaipur, March 28 (IANS) Director of Cricket for Delhi Capitals Sourav Ganguly shed light on the rationale behind Delhi Capitals (DC) opting for an all-Australian opening combination of David Warner and Mitchell Marsh, sidelining the opener Prithvi Shaw, in their tournament opener against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in IPL 2024.

Marsh partnering Warner at the top against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their season opener in Mullanpur, raised eyebrows, as many were surprised by the omission of Prithvi Shaw despite his retention in the team prior to the mini-auction in December.

"Prithvi Shaw is an opener. We decided to open with Marsh and Warner and Ricky Bhui is a middle-order batter. So, they bat at different positions. So it's actually not Bhui for sure. It's a different opening combination, they opened for Australia and they have done well together. So, we decided to do that," Ganguly told the reporters ahead of DC' match against Rajasthan Royals.

Despite initial success with Warner and Marsh providing a brisk start against Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals faced challenges in maintaining momentum in the latter stages of the innings, ultimately posting a modest total of 174.

Ganguly also addressed concerns regarding Shaw's limited involvement in pre-season preparations, attributing his absence to injury setbacks and commitments to Mumbai's Ranji Trophy campaign. Acknowledging Shaw's promising County Championship stint cut short by injury, Ganguly emphasized the importance of players' fitness and prior commitments, which impacted their availability for pre-season training camps.

"To be honest, we did not get much of Prithvi Shaw in the camp. Unfortunately, he was injured for a long time. After he went to England for the county stint in Northamptonshire where he played exceptionally well and tore his ligament in the knee, we couldn't get him till February. After he came back to fitness, he played Ranji Trophy.

"I remember we set up a four-day training camp with him, but then, the NCA announced him fit and then he went on to play Ranji Trophy. You can't take anybody away from Ranji Trophy and put in an IPL camp. And then Mumbai won the tournament, and he played till the last day of the tournament. He played till 14th and then joined the camp.

"So I honestly didn't get Prithvi. But, got a lot of others, Khaleel, Abishek Porel, Ricky Bhui, Kumar Kushagra, Ishant Sharma, we got them together for a couple of times. We only had that much time to work with them," Ganguly said.

Despite Shaw's underwhelming performances in previous IPL seasons, Delhi Capitals retained faith in the young opener and retained him ahead of the 17th season.

Delhi Capitals will face Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur on Thursday.