David Warner, Rilee Rossouw, Ishant Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Axar Patel, Anrich Nortje, none of the big names were seen in Delhi Capital’s training session on the eve of the match day against Punjab Kings.
More interestingly, none of the bowlers were seen in the nets and all the workload was managed by the net bowlers.
With the league stage of the IPL 2023 at the fag end, it seemed as if the Capitals had settled that the batters had let them down this season and hence the bowlers were given a rest day.
Rightly so, the Capitals have the second lowest powerplay strike rate – 126.26 in the tournament. Barring a few games against RCB and SRH, their top order has made serious blunders.
Assistant Coach Pravin Amre was also vocal about it at the pre-match media interaction.
“The first five losses we had, that (poor batting in powerplay) was a major concern. But we came back, especially in the RCB game. Even the game we lost against SRH, we had a brilliant opening stand, we dominated the first 10 overs.
“But where we are lacking, in six games we lost a wicket in the first over. So that’s something we don’t want to see. If we have a decent powerplay, even 50/1, we can make out from there. But if we lose three wickets, it gets difficult, and it has happened not just once but two – three times,” Amre said, adding that the team would like to work on that area.
DC largely changed this philosophy, with the inclusion of Phil Salt and giving him a more consistent run. His innings against RCB showed that the Capitals can fire and compete ruthlessly.
“He is the positive we have got. Whatever games we have won, he has had a major contribution. Even yesterday’s game (last game vs CSK), that one miscued shot to Deepak Chahar, otherwise we would have got that score what we wanted, in the powerplay. He plays that brand of cricket, he just plays fearless, and counter attacks [the opposition],” Amre praised the English batter responding to a CricketNext querry.
Amre also highlighted that he is the only DC batter to win a Player of the Match award and that answers many questions.
The new philosophy may rotate around Phil Salt who does not have much to lose and has the game that DC was lacking since the start.
The capitals have genuinely tried to change their approach after losing five games on the trot. They played four top-order overseas batters against CSK and tried to attack right from the beginning. This was a well-thought change in their strategy and Amre confirmed the same.
“First of all you pick a team at the auction table with a basic plan, but that didn’t work actually. We couldn’t win the first five games, but in last six games, we won four games. So sometimes we have to change the strategy, the top four have to play aggressively. For the first time in Delhi, we went with four overseas batters and that worked as well. Generally Indian batters play an important role in Delhi, but the way we played even against RCB, it was a good thing and a new strategy basically.”
DC’s middle order either has not been in a dashing form. And the franchise is probably still not over the fact they lost Rishabh Pant to the monstrous accident.
“Sometimes you invest a big amount in crucial player. We invested not only for this year, but for four years. We picked him as an 18-year kid and he was a success story from there, not only for Delhi franchise but also for Indian cricket. He was also a wicket-keeper and we missed that. Definitely we miss him, especially in the middle order, the way he used to play. It was unfortunate for him as well as for us,” Amre said.
The franchise probably is looking to add some fresh energy in the middle order. The training session left a few evidences.
Abhishek Porel had a fair wicket-keeping session on the ground and then went to the practice nets to face the net bowlers. While he hit a few straight and hard shots, he was beaten on multiple occasions, especially off off-spin.
Pravin Dube, simultaneously faced throw downs in the adjacent net. Director Sourav Ganguly had a conversation with a few players on the main ground and then walked to the practice nets to have a close eye on Porel and Dube.
Meanwhile, Ripal Patel and Yash Dhull smashed the bowlers on the main ground in the stands. The attacking philosophy seemed to be injected into their veins.
However, Pant already had that philosophy, the Capitals are now trying to imply. Warner, on most occasions, played an anchor role, and the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Mitchell Marsh could not fire. Shaw was eventually dropped and his performances this season have definitely raised a lot of eyebrows.
“Prithvi was one of the highest scorers in Syed Mushtaq Ali, and he scored 300s (in Ranji Trophy) so fitness was also not the issue. But anything can happen to a player, that’s the beauty of the game. That’s a lesson for them also. They have to prepare themselves much better, because this is not a domestic tournament, it is an international level tournament,” Amre spoke when quizzed about Shaw.
While DC will look to overturn their fortunes, which, in reality, is highly unlikely. They might win a game or two, more likely to spoil the fun for their opponents than to better their own chances.
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