Trying to recover from the Sunrisers bashing, Delhi Capitals will look for some respite when they face an inconsistent Gujarat Titans on Wednesday at home, the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Delhi are almost out of breath in the race to playoffs. A little what they can do is treat the remaining six matches as knockouts and give their best shot, hoping for a miracle where other contenders falter.
The only team Delhi put under the mat this season was GT. It was the only game amid the ongoing high-scoring run-fest where a total of 181 runs were scored across innings. Delhi bowlers, especially the pacers, had the edge that day as DC mowed down Gujarat in their own backyard.
But the plot has changed drastically since then. Gujarat picked up the lost momentum, huffing and puffing against Punjab to gain 2 valuable points and capture the sixth spot. Whereas Delhi were belted brutally, being forced by Hyderabad to struggle among the bottom three.
As Gujarat seek revenge for their humiliation in Ahmedabad, Rishabh Pant’s leadership skills will be under scrutiny as Delhi find themselves standing on a double-edged sword.
What: IPL 2024 Match 32, Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Titans
Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi
When: April 23, Wednesday
Time: Toss at 19:00 Hrs, Play starts 19:30 Hrs
Team News – Delhi Capitals
Coming out of a trauma takes time. That’s the case with DC who had a nightmarish homecoming. SRH has already been functioning in a different realm this season and the Delhi bowlers let them own that. Barring Axar Patel, all other bowlers leaked runs over 10 an over which let Hyderabad register the 4th top score in IPL history.
Coach Ricky Ponting admitted that the last game went beyond their reach before they could even think what was wrong. He strongly said a team can’t lose a game the way they did the previous night.
“We were ready for that. We planned for it. But, I think when, when we got put under pressure the most, a lot of those, those plans went out the window. And it looked like we all got a little bit confused with what we were trying to do,” Ponting said at the pre-match presser.
“We can’t afford to start games of cricket like that. You can’t be that far off with your execution. Because if you are in this competition against good players, they’re going to make you play. And that’s what happened last night,” he added.
But the bowlers can’t win the game on their own. The batters need to step up to keep the team’s head above water and it is when the openers need to fire. For Delhi, it’s been a curious case. Prithvi Shaw’s return to accompany David Warner matched up well but only to lose their charm pretty soon. Their failure adds an added pressure to middle-order which has none beyond Rishabh Pant.
Jake Fraser McGurg is indeed a find for DC but he’s yet in the learning phase. Even coach Ponting feels that.
“There are still a lot of things to learn for Fraser McGurk. He isn’t a finished product and there is no better place to learn than the IPL. We aren’t stopping him from doing the things he wants to do but we are also trying to make him learn a few things on the run,” Ponting said.
So, for Delhi, the equation is simple – step up and deliver before it’s too late.
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Team News – Gujarat Titans
IPL 2024 has been a learning curve for Shubman Gill. The skipper has juggling two roles at a time – holding the team intact and delivering as an opener, especially when the T20 World Cup selection is around the corner. How fairly he has played both roles, David Miller gave a subtle reply while answering CricketNext query at the Pre-match presser.
“Shubman is young and an incredible player and I’m really looking forward to see how his career unfolds. I really enjoyed what he has added to the team as captain. I feel each player has their unique way of leading.
“He has performed really well with the bat. It’s been nice to have someone performing and leading from that sense. It’s been really a nice transition,” he said.
But for GT, if their bowling has been taken by the likes of Mohit Sharma, Rashid Khan, Sai Kishore, the batting middle-order has appeared to be a little dilly-dally. Their inconsistency often leaves a lot on Rahul Tewatia’s platter, which is certainly unsustainable in the long run.
But Miller didn’t address it as an issue. The South African believes why to delve too much into it when the ‘Impact Sub’ rule is there in place.
“I don’t think there’s any issue in the middle order. Because of the impact player rule, it doesn’t matter much. There have been close games which we could have won but lost. We just want to do the basics right. We just need a little more fight. 4 wins from 8, we win the next two games and we are focusing on that,” Miller said.
Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (c&wk), David Warner, Abishek Porel, Ricky Bhui, Yash Dhull, Shai Hope, Prithvi Shaw, Tristan Stubbs, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Swastik Chikara, Ishant Sharma, Jhye Richardson, Rasikh Dar, Vicky Ostwal, Anrich Nortje, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Praveen Dubey, Khaleel Ahmed, Sumit Kumar, Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, Jake Fraser-McGurk.
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Matthew Wade, Kane Williamson, Azmatullah Omarzai, Abhinav Manohar, Rashid Khan, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Spencer Johnson, Kartik Tyagi, Joshua Little, Darshan Nalkande, Noor Ahmad, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohit Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Sushant Mishra, Sandeep Warrier, Sharath BR, Manav Suthar.
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