David Warner’s led Delhi Capitals will look forward to working on mistakes that they made in the previous match against LSG and getting a good start in their IPL 2023 campaign against Gujarat Titans, here at Arun Jaitley Stadium, on Tuesday.
The defending champions have all their bases covered despite Kane Williamson being ruled out of the tournament after a serious knee injury.
The hosts, on the other hand, are looking like an outfit that is bereft of a Plan B, as it became apparent in their 50-run thrashing at the hands of Lucknow Super Giants. The primary worry is the composition of Indian pace attack, which mildly put is below par when Anrich Nortje isn’t there to spearhead the attack.
Chetan Sakariya and Mukesh Kumar are sincere cricketers but both lack the pace and variation required to trouble international quality batters consistently. They could well be lambs for slaughter against a Shubman Gill, who is in rampaging form or skipper Hardik Pandya, who would feast on friendly medium pacers day in and day out.
Khaleel Ahmed had a decent first game but his fielding has been an issue for years and those who have seen him at fielding sessions now know that he drops more aerial catches than he takes. The drop of Kyle Mayers had the most damaging effect in opening game for Delhi. The only other notable pacer in the ranks is Ishant Sharma and even DC management knows well that picking him at his base price was more of showing respect to a 100-Test veteran rather than thinking of him as an asset.
Sharma can only be used as an ‘impact player’ but those who have watched DC training this season would vouch that he has lost pace and the skiddy effect is no longer there. Hence, Nortje and his South African compatriot Lungi Ngidi, who both are still on national duty, are required at earliest.
They will arrive only after the completion of Tuesday’s game and Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly and head coach Ricky Ponting will have to rejig the combination a bit.
May be drop Sakariya and get Mustafizur Rahaman, an experienced international campaigner in the bowling unit. In that case, Rilee Rossouw will have to sit out.
In the batting department, skipper David Warner would like to see the Indian youngsters like Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan handle raw pace better than they did while encountering Mark Wood. Both looked uncomfortable and short of ideas as one didn’t have his bat come down in time while the other just managed to avoid a head injury while getting into a tangle, playing the ramp shot.
Sarfaraz nor being picked for Test squad has been questioned by many but it is widely believed, even at the top level in the BCCI, that the Mumbaikar has serious technical issues against the short-pitched deliveries above 138 to 140 clicks.
The duo will have to do much better if DC don’t want to lose early momentum.
Against DC, Mohammed Shami and Pandya will pose a different challenge. With Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal and ever consistent Rashid Khan for company, it will be a challenge for DC batters.
