Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul will have scores to settle when they take the field on Monday. Not against each other though.

Pant will want to prove to Delhi Capitals that they erred in not retaining him, while Rahul will be keen to show Lucknow Super Giants his worth after a not-too-happy parting of ways at the end of last season.

So when the Capitals meet Lucknow in Visakhapatnam on Monday, the subplots in the contest could paint an engrossing story. But that if Rahul plays the game. The Capitals’ keeper-batter is expecting his first child with wife Athiya and may be unavailable for the match.

Unlike Pant, who is Lucknow’s skipper this season, Rahul doesn’t have any captaincy duties. The Capitals will be led by Axar Patel this time.

Lucknow have a depleted attack with most of their frontline pacers — Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan and Akash Deep — nursing injuries. Mohsin Khan has been ruled out for the season and Lucknow have roped in Shardul Thakur as a replacement. So it will be interesting to see what bowling attack captain Pant fields.

The Capitals, with a better balanced team, are the favourites for the game.