Gujarat Titans too good for Delhi Capitals

If Delhi could not score at their home base, it suggests there are major issues in their side. Right now, Delhi look woefully out of form.

Gujarat Titans too good for Delhi Capitals

DC vs GT

Delhi Capitals are back to bad old habits, losing the plot in the Indian Premier League. On Tuesday, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, the underdogs lost once again, signaling a miserable start to their campaign in the 2023 season.

If losing to Lucknow Super Giants in the first match, an away one, was a disgrace, getting hammered by Gujarat Titans at home was no better. Batting first after losing the toss, Delhi were floundering. The first six overs of an innings are crucial and the hosts had struggled. Agreed, the bounce was low but these are things that the Delhi batters should have known very well.

David Warner, the stand-in captain for Rishabh Pant is definitely going to lose sleep over two losses in a row. The defeat on Tuesday could have been avoided had Delhi been able to restrict one Guarat Titans batter — Sai Sudarshan. Twenty-one years of age, Sai used his composure and strokes to score 62. The beauty of the IPL is how young guys handle the pressure well.

At a time when Anrich Nortje threatened to blow away Gujarat Titans with his furious pace and aggro, claiming two wickets, there was a change in the script. Perhaps, Delhi would have felt sheepish they could put on only 162 runs on the board. It did not give the bowlers much of a chance, really. Nortje is known for his T20 skills but the other Delhi bowlers were not really on top of their game. This is where Sai Sudarshan and David Miller, unbeaten on 31, showed why the defending champions are on fire. They won the first match in Ahmedabad against Chennai Super Kings last week.

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No narration of Gujarat Titans’ domination in the first part is complete without a mention of the brilliance of their star bowlers

Gujarat Titans too good for Delhi Capitals
DC vs GT

The second win on the trot is a feather in the cap for Hardik Pandya, whose captaincy skills are getting noticed so closely. He may have been new to the job in 2022 when the fresh team of the IPL began its journey with a bang. To repeat the same show in a new season is special, where Pandya leads from the front. He bowls and bats and is engaged with all his blokes on the field.

No narration of Gujarat’s domination in the first part is complete without a mention of the brilliance of their star bowlers. Mohd Shami seems in perfect swing mode while Rashid Khan has been a big pain for batters. In between, the fiery Alzarri Joseph came out, breathing fire. On a feather bed of a track, the tall guy was menacing. He was quick and bent his back to get the bounce. All that made life miserable for Delhi Capitals. David Warner scored 37 and Axar Patel led a brief charge with 36.

One has seen 200 plus being out on the board in this IPL. The boundary at the historic Ferozeshah Kotla, now called the Arun Jaitley Stadium, is small. If Delhi could not score here, it suggests there are major issues on their side. It’s nice to indulge in all this drama by getting an unfit Rishabh Pant to cheer them on. Right now, Delhi look woefully out of form. The entire think-tank will be worried, from captain to team management, which includes Warner, Ricky Ponting, and Sourav Ganguly. Alarm bells? Yes. Hope Delhi hears it.

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