Delhi Capitals have included Aniruddha Joshi as a replacement for their regular skipper Shreyas Iyer, who was ruled out of the the ongoing IPL 2021 with an injury. The franchise also brought in Shams Mulani as a short-term replacement for all-rounder Axar Patel, who is currently in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19. As per IPL's player regulations, a franchise is allowed to sign a short-term replacement for a player till the time he recovers and is "permitted to enter team's bio-secure environment" again.
"Delhi Capitals have brought in Shams Mulani as a short-term COVID-19 replacement for Axar Patel for their VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 campaign. Axar had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus during his mandatory quarantine ahead of the season and was subsequently taken to BCCI's medical facility for isolation and treatment," read IPL's statement on their official website.
"Delhi Capitals have also signed Aniruddha Joshi as a replacement for the injured Shreyas Iyer for the remainder of the VIVO IPL 2021. Iyer was ruled out of the tournament after sustaining an injury during the recent India-England One-Day International (ODI) series," it added.
"Mulani comes in as a replacement under VIVO IPL's Player Regulations. Under the 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," IPL stated.
Delhi Capitals got their IPL 2021 season off to a great start, beating three-time champions Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets in their opening match. They are currently sitting comfortably on the second position in the IPL 2021 Points Table with two points from one match.