They might have lost their last three games, but Delhi Capitals have been one of the top-performing teams in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League. And a major reason behind their success has been backing the players and giving them that sense of security.
But going into their last two games in the group stage, an area of concern is the top half of the innings. While Shikhar Dhawan has hit 471 runs from 12 games, he hasn’t had the support from the other end as first-choice opener Prithvi Shaw managed just 209 runs from the 10 games that he played and Ajinkya Rahane has managed 26 runs from his last two innings at the top — duck against Kolkata Knight Riders and 26 off 19 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. While it hasn’t been the best of seasons for Rahane — having scored 51 runs from 5 matches — he did look good in the last outing against SRH at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. And it looks like the DC outfit will look to give him some more time at the top of the innings.
Asked if the team is looking at the top half of the innings considering that DC haven’t had a good start for a while, sources in the DC camp said that Shaw had his share of chance and it is important to back players before looking at a change. “Shaw got 10 games. He must wait his turn. It is important to make players feel comfortable and that can only be done when you give them that sense of security,” the source told ANI.
Asked if the youngster has an injury issue, the source answered in the negative: “No injury issues, he is fit.” Having started brilliantly, DC were expected to be one of the first teams to officially qualify for the playoff stages. But three of their five losses came in their last three games and that has somewhat put them on the backfoot as they look to regain the winning momentum again.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer though is confident that the boys will come back all guns blazing as they look to seal the playoff spot in their next game against Mumbai Indians on Saturday. “We still have two games left but one win is really important, that’s what we are waiting for since the last three games. Back-to-back losses is definitely going to put us under the pump. The boys are really strong, really motivated. Any team can surprise anyone in this tournament, all teams are pretty much equal and you can’t underestimate anyone especially at the business end.
“We’ll stay positive, we’ll have a strong mindset. Going forward, Mumbai Indians and RCB they are good teams but we have beaten RCB once and we still gotta win against Mumbai. It’s going to be a good competition against them and really looking forward for a great win in the next one,” he pointed.
