DOOMED! Delhi Capitals lose fifth in a row

Can there be a turnaround for Delhi Capitals? Even the eternal optimist may say "no."

DOOMED! Delhi Capitals lose fifth in a row

Delhi Capitals

The agony continues for fans of the Delhi Capitals, if there are still any left, in the Indian Premier League. On Saturday, the mantra was the same, “Can’t bat, can’t bowl, can’t field,” as Royal Challengers Bangalore crushed the David Warner-led side by 23 runs in a low-scoring match on Saturday.

Doubles headers over the weekend are highly anticipated, just that whenever the Delhi side plays, there is more intrigue. When the Delhi Capitals bowled first, the return of Mitch Marsh and the presence of Anrich Nortje appeared to be good as they restricted RCB to 174. The current edition of the IPL, the 16th, has seen scores of over 200 plus being put on the board and also being chased.

In comparison, what RCB managed, seemed poor. Yet, even for this total of 174, the hosts should be thankful to Virat Kohli, who scored 50 off 34 balls. His strike rate was 147.06, which according to some commentators like Simon Doull was not good enough. To be sure, had it not been for King Kohli’s half-ton, RCB would have been doomed.

What Kohli has done in this IPL has certainly not been below par, when you compare it with a few more like Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. The irony is, Kohli is originally from Delhi, settled in Mumbai, and plays for Bangalore/Bengaluru. His love for the garden city is well known and he has embraced the Karnataka capital cricket culture well. That Kohli would make a big difference in the match needs to be appreciated.

When Delhi Capitals batted, it was like watching an old horror show in prime time in the old days. Manish Pande came good with a half-ton, but the problems for Delhi begin from the top. David Warner knows he is psyched out. The harder he tries the tougher it gets. In previous matches, he did score in the 50 regions but the strike rate was poor. On Saturday, Warner was caught by Kohli off fast bowler Vijaykumar Vyshak.

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From DD to DC, only names have changed for this IPL side, not the DNA!

DOOMED! Delhi Capitals lose fifth in a row
Delhi Capitals

Here is the story, really, for RCB. Mohammed Siraj and Wayne Parnell are well-known speed merchants who know the tricks of the trade. However, the dude who came out smoking was Vyshak, from Bengaluru. As one who began for Basavangudi Club in the younger days and wanted to be a batter, Vysakh was groomed as a fast bowler.

He has done well for Karnataka in first-class cricket in the last two years. Taken under the wings of Abhinav Mukund, Vysakh has picked up valuable tips. He looks a bit heavy to be a fast bowler. However, to soak in the pressure on Saturday and prise out three wickets was great. After all, Vysakh was named as the replacement for the injured Rajat Patidar. For Vysakh to take three wickets conceding 20 runs in four overs was superb.

If Vysakh was a sensational bowler on this day, Delhi have hurtled towards doom, match after match. There was sarcasm in the air, literally, as TV commentator Ravi Shastri was having a massive dig at Sourav Ganguly, who has an important role in the DC team management. Dada and Ricky Ponting would not know where to hide their faces as this campaign of Delhi Capitals has been pathetic.

Social media is going full throttle slamming Delhi Capitals as they registered their fifth straight loss in the 2023 season. Poor Rishabh Pant, the regular captain, must be wondering what is happening to his side.

There are some crazy stats on Delhi. Warner is obviously under fire, but many captains before as well, Pant included, have seen this team flop. Those who led erstwhile Delhi Daredevils will probably recall what agony they underwent when men like Mahela Jayawardene led the side. Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Kevin Pietersen, the list of former Delhi captains in the IPL is huge. Some like Gambhir did well as captain of KKR later, winning the IPL title twice.

Can there be a turnaround for Delhi Capitals? Even the eternal optimist may say “no.” The current wretched run is similar to 2014-15 when they lost 11 matches in a row. Pune Warriors had a similar record as well when they were part of the IPL. Imagine, once, Delhi Daredevils were in the final. From DD to DC, only names have changed for this IPL side, not the DNA!

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