Chinks in Delhi Capitals armour: Misfiring Marsh, Shaw, Sarfaraz’s struggle against pace, Indian pacers lacking bite, Axar’s no-show with the ball

Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly said that someone like Pant is irreplaceable but handing the gloves to someone who has recently turned a part-time keeper never made any sense. The Delhi Capitals team management would have lot to ponder about in the next couple of days to find a perfect team balance ahead of their next match against Rajasthan Royals, scheduled to be played in Jaipur on Saturday.

The Indian Express looks at what has gone wrong for the Delhi Capitals in the ongoing season.

Misfiring Mitchell Marsh

Mitchell Marsh came into the tournament in terrific form, smoking Indian bowlers all over the park in the ODI series. The Australian all-rounder has found it difficult to get going as he has managed only four runs in two innings and has been bowled both times. It was a first-ball duck against Lucknow Super Giants’s Mark Wood and this time played on off Shami’s bowling.

Vulnerability of Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan against pace

Prithivi scored 7 and 12 and Sarfaraz scored 30 and 4 in two innings the duo have played so far in the IPL 2023. (PTI)

Mark Wood’s searing pace tore apart Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan in Lucknow. History repeated itself in Delhi, and on a track where the balls literally flew off the surface, the Indian youngsters failed to cope up with the pace of Mohammed Shami and Alzarri Joseph. If Wood got Shaw with a full ball, Shami consumed him with a short one. Shaw was rushed off the surface, he looked to pull it and ballooned it straight to Joseph at mid-on. Sarfaraz, who looked all at sea against Wood, was looking even more miserable against the West Indian quick. He pinged him on the helmet. Sarfaraz never recovered from the hit, and his stay at the crease was miserable and he looked out-of-depth against top-quality bowlers.

Delhi’s assistant coach Ajit Agarkar has jumped in defence of the Mumbai boys calling it unfair to point a finger at the individuals. “They have scored runs against the fast bowling. Prithvi Shaw scored a Test century on his debut. I don’t think we batted well. Our top order failed to get going. Collectively we’ve not done enough as a batting unit to get the better result,” he told reporters.

Toothless Indian pace attack

Mukesh Kumar of Delhi Capitals bowls during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow, India, Saturday, April 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Surjeet Yadav)

The Indian bowling talent in Delhi Capitals looks inadequate if one compares it with the other IPL teams. The express pace of Anrich Nortje, playing his first game of the season, briefly rattled the defending champions, but there has been no pressure from the other end. In the first game, the trio of Mukesh Kumar, Chetan Sarkariya and Khaleel Ahmed looked pedestrian. Khaleel did bowl a snorter to dismiss Hardik Pandya but the left-arm seamer has not been consistent enough with his performance.

Delhi has spent Rs 5.5 crore on Bengal pacer Mukesh Kumar, who has made his marks in domestic cricket with his exploits in the red ball. In the two games he has played, Kumar has looked a misfit in this format. Agarkar sympathises with the pacer, saying he bowled reasonably well in both matches. He said: “I think he bowled well in Lucknow. He started well today as well. He has played only two games and David Miller has taken a few bowlers down. I know in the IPL, people focus a lot on the price tags, but i feel Mukesh is a quality bowler and he will come good.”

Axar Patel’s bowling

Chetan Sakariya of Delhi Capitals, left, and Axar Patel during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow, India, Saturday, April 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Surjeet Yadav)

Axar Patel’s 22-ball 36 was Delhi Capitals’ saving grace with the bat. Had Axar not used his long handle to good effect, even 150 would have looked a distant reality for Delhi Capitals. David Warner didn’t give him a single over to Axar Patel. In the previous match, he received hammering from Kyle Mayers and Nicholas Pooran. In recent times, Axar Patel’s batting has improved significantly but he has been found out with the ball, especially in the T20 format against left-handed batters.

Agarkar blamed the ground dimensions for Axar not bowling in the match.

Delhi Capitals would dearly want their star all-rounder to perform well with both bat and ball in the upcoming matches.