Delhi Daredevils were without their regular skipper Zaheer Khan (L) on Sunday. (Source: PTI)
During the Delhi Daredevils innings, their former player Kevin Pietersen tweeted about their “demise”. “I have a real soft spot for Delhi Daredevils as I had my best time at that franchise. Their demise through the years saddens me!” the tweet read. Certainly, any player who has had his best time with a franchise sees them getting bowled out for 67, and even without a fight, it will be sad story. (Results | Fixtures | Points Table)
And, if there was something Karun Nair did not expect on his IPL captaincy debut, it was to defend 67 runs. Delhi Daredevils were bowled out for 67 by Kings XI Punjab in Mohali. Apart from Sam Billings, who got a peach of a delivery on which he was dismissed, other batsmen were out trying to play frantic shots. The bowlers got little help from the pitch on which the batsmen needed to be patient. Surprisingly, none of the Delhi batsmen were.
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/858646132569853953
A line-up that has hosts of Indian youngsters including Sanju Samson, Nair, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer has failed, now twice. Delhi have lost three matches chasing, the line-up succumbing to the pressure and now they are bowled out for the third worst IPL total. More stats and the story gets worse.
* This is Delhi’s worst IPL total and third worst total of all time. Not only that, they have been restricted below 100 eight times in IPL, the most than any other team
* After 10 overs, Delhi were at 37 for the loss of six wickets. This is their worst performance in first 10 overs. Their 67 is also the joint worst first-innings total
* Their best batsman this season has been Samson who is eight in the highest run scorer’s list. In bowlers list, it is Chris Morris who features at number four
Apart from these stats, a look at their tactics reveal a sad story. While the line-up has been out of confidence, the batting order doesn’t have a settled look. Their problems started even before the start of this season with Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy pulling out of the tournament.
But, the start of this season was not bad though. They won their first two matches. But that was it. Since then, they have lost six out of the eight matches and losses have been successive. One can argue that they have played better than being last in the points table and a bit of luck could have seen them win atleast a couple more matches. But that is how sports is.
The 10-wicket loss to Punjab on Sunday will hurt them and it can be difficult for t he young team to bounce back from such a show. Rahul Dravid, the coach, can help but he also seems to miss a trick by playing an unsettled team.
Daredevils have played the least number of matches yet in this season and if they can comeback from here, we may witness another fairytale, like every other season of Indian Premier League.
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