News Analysis India

Tag: Delhi Capitals

  • Ishant Sharma suffering from heel niggle: Ricky Ponting

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting has revealed that experienced fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who missed his team’s first two IPL matches, is suffering from a heel niggle.

    The 32-year-old, who was retained by Delhi ahead of the IPL auction, missed the games against Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, which paved the way for 24-year-old pacer Avesh Khan’s selection in the team.

    “Coming into the first game, Ishant Sharma obviously had a heel niggle that we have been trying to work through,” Ponting said during a virtual press-conference after DC’s three-wicket loss against Rajasthan Royals here on Thursday night.

    Sharma had suffered an abdominal muscle tear during his only match for DC in the last edition.

    He was ruled out of the rest of that IPL in UAE and also the ensuing Test series against Australia.

    After recovering, Sharma made a successful comeback in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, taking five wickets.

    He also played the four Tests against England, capturing six wickets.

    With Sharma missing out, Avesh provided Delhi Capitals the early breakthroughs, claiming five wickets in the last two games and Ponting was “ultra” impressed with him.

    “He has grabbed his opportunities with both hands. He has been around this franchise for few years now but hasn’t got the opportunities that he has been craving for.

    “…if you have an Indian fast bowler like him and then you have the likes of (Chris) Woakes, (Anrich) Nortje, (Kagiso) Rabada, and (Tom) Curran and those guys around then we end up with a real strong fast bowling brigade.”

  • Not completing Ravichandran Ashwin’s quota of overs was a mistake: Delhi Capitals coach Ponting

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Not giving off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin his full quota of overs was “probably a mistake”, Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting conceded after his side went down by three wickets in the IPL clash against Rajasthan Royals here.

    Ashwin conceded just 14 runs and no boundaries in his three overs after being brought in following the powerplay on Thursday night when DC were defending a modest 148.

    With two left-handers — David Miller (62) and Rahul Tewatia (19) — in the middle, new skipper Rishabh Pant introduced Marcus Stoinis in the attack instead of continuing with Ashwin in the 13th over.

    The Australian conceded 15 runs which included three fours, taking RR from 58/5 to 73/5 to effectively shift the momentum.

    “That’s certainly something that we will talk about when I get a chance to sit down with the team. He had bowled beautifully. Three overs, none for 14. Hadn’t even conceded a boundary,” Ponting said in the virtual press conference.

    “He had a disappointing game in game one, but he has worked really hard in the last few days to make sure he adjusted and got things right in this game.

    “I thought he bowled beautifully tonight. Probably a mistake on our behalf, and something we will be talking about later on.” The Royals needed 58 from the last five overs.

    Morris smashed four sixes in the last two overs during his quick-fire 18-ball 36 to take the team home with two balls to spare.

    “We probably gave him (Morris) a few too many easy balls, a few too many slot balls if you like,” Ponting said.

    “The length wasn’t quite where it needed to be.

    If you look at the replay of the game, if you bowled a reasonable yorker, he didn’t score off them.

    “If it was back of a length, sort of, above stump high, he didn’t get hold of them either, especially with pace on the ball. We talked about how to bowl to him, but the execution probably wasn’t there.”

    Ponting said dew was a factor in the second innings as bowlers found it difficult to grip the ball.

    “The other thing you have got to factor in is just how wet and how dewy the ball was in the second innings of the game,” Ponting said.

    “It wasn’t easy for the bowlers to grip.

    You could see it at the end there.

    There were a few full tosses that fast bowlers bowled with the ball slipping out of their hand a little bit.

    “That’s part and parcel of IPL cricket. We knew coming here that there will be a little bit of dew in the second half of the game. And we didn’t adapt, and we didn’t execute as well as we could have tonight.” The former Australian skipper said errors in the last four overs cost them the match.

    “Till around the 13th-over mark in our bowling innings, the second innings of the game, everything was going according to plan.

    We made a few errors coming in the last four or five overs of the game.

    “When you are a little bit off against any team in the IPL, just bowl a couple of bad balls or just a couple of those here and there, it is quite often the difference in the outcome. We didn’t get things right at the back end tonight.”

    Ponting was impressed with pacer Avesh Khan’s performance in the last two games.

    “He has been ultra impressive. Physically he has lost a bit of weight. He is bowling faster, his action is better, his line and length, variations have been excellent,” he said.

    The 24-year-old has provided early breakthroughs, claiming five wickets so far in the two games “He has grabbed his opportunities with both hands. Spending time with the Indian team ahead of the IPL has helped him. He is has been a real find for us.”

    Delhi Capitals will next play against Punjab Kings on Sunday in Mumbai.

  • Miller’s 63 and Morris’ unbeaten 36 power Rajasthan Royals to sensational win

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: David Miller’s combative 43-ball 62 and Chris Morris’ timely onslaught (36 not out) powered Rajasthan Royals to a dramatic three-wicket win over Delhi Capitals in their IPL match, here on Thursday.

    Opting to bowl, RR pacer Jaydev Unadkat took three wickets for 15 runs to restrict the Capitals to 147 for eight.

    Miller then anchored the Royals’ chase but it was Morris whose blitzkrieg took Royals home with two balls to spare.

    It is Royals’ first win of the season.

    The Royals were 17 for 3 in the fourth over and 42 for 5 at the halfway mark. They needed 58 from the last five overs and 12 from the final over.

    Morris ended the run chase with a six off Tom Curran.

    Royals’ run chase was, however, in tatters as soon as it started.

    Chris Woakes removed openers Manan Vohra (9) and Jos Buttler (1) in a space of three balls in the third over.

    In the next over, Kagiso Rabada dismissed the dangerous Royals captain Sanju Samson — the only centurion so far this season — with Shikhar Dhawan taking the catch at the slip.

    Shivam Dube (2) perished while playing an unnecessary uppish shot at a length ball off Avesh Khan with Dhawan taking his 78th catch of the IPL.

    The same pair worked in tandem two overs later with Dhawan taking his third catch of the day after Riyan Parag (2) had miscued an Avesh Khan delivery.

    The Royals were 52 for 5 at the halfway mark and by then the asking rate has gone up to nearly 10 an over.

    But, Miller and Rahul Tewatia (19) kept the Royals in the hunt with a 48-run stand for the sixth wicket before Rabada came back to give the much-needed breakthrough for the Capitals.

    Earlier, a brilliant three-wicket burst from pacer Jaydev Unadkat helped RR restrict DC to 147 for eight.

    Unadkat (3/15 off 4 overs) dismissed Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane to trigger DC’s top-order collapse from which they never recovered fully.

    Captain Rishabh Pant’s blistering 32-ball 51, studded with nine fours, was not enough as DC could only post a modest total after being put in to bat.

    DC made a disastrous start as they were two wickets down for 16 runs in the fourth over with Unadkat dismissing the opening duo of Shaw (2) and Dhawan (9) cheaply.

    Shaw was the first to go in the second over, caught at backward point before Dhawan perished while attempting a ramp shot with RR captain and wicketkeeper Sanju Samson taking a stunning diving catch to his right.

    Ajinkya Rahane’s (8) underwhelming IPL form continued as he offered an easy caught and bowled chance to Unadkat with a slow ball that clocked just 110km per hour.

    DC were 36 for 3 at the end of power-play but the slump continued as Marcus Stonis (0), foxed by a Mustafizur Rahman (2/29) delivery, checked his shot at the last minute to offer a running catch to Jos Buttler.

    The run rate started increasing once captain Pant came to the crease but still DC were 57 for 4 at the halfway mark.

    Once he had a full measure of the pitch, Pant opened up and hit four boundaries, three of which were consecutive, to take 20 runs from the 11th over bowled by Rahul Tewatia.

    Pant, in excellent form this year, reached to his fifty off 30 balls in the 12th over, with a four off Mustafizur but he was run out the next over with bowler Riyan Parag’s throw crashing onto the stumps.

    Delhi were 88 for 5 then.

    After Pant’s exit, Tom Curran gave some respectability to the DC innings with a 16-ball 21.

  • Unadkat’s brilliant spell of 3/15 restricts Delhi Capitals to 147 for 8

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A brilliant three-wicket burst from pacer Jaydev Unadkat helped Rajasthan Royals restrict Delhi Capitals to 147 for eight in their IPL match, here on Thursday.

    Unadkat (3/15 off 4 overs) dismissed Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane to trigger DC’s top-order collapse from which they never recovered fully.

    Captain Rishabh Pant’s blistering 32-ball 51, studded with nine fours, was not enough as DC could only post a modest total after being put in to bat.

    DC made a disastrous start as they were two wickets down for 16 runs in the fourth over with Unadkat dismissing the opening duo of Shaw (2) and Dhawan (9) cheaply.

    Shaw was the first to go in the second over, caught at backward point before Dhawan perished while attempting a ramp shot with RR captain and wicketkeeper Sanju Samson taking a stunning diving catch to his right.

    Ajinkya Rahane’s (8) underwhelming IPL form continued as he offered an easy caught and bowled chance to Unadkat with a slow ball that clocked just 110km per hour.

    DC were 36 for 3 at the end of power-play but the slump continued as Marcus Stonis (0), foxed by a Mustafizur Rahman (2/29) delivery, checked his shot at the last minute to offer a running catch to Jos Buttler.

    The run rate started increasing once captain Pant came to the crease but still DC were 57 for 4 at the halfway mark.

    Once he had a full measure of the pitch, Pant opened up and hit four boundaries, three of which were consecutive, to take 20 runs from the 11th over bowled by Rahul Tewatia.

    Pant, in excellent form this year, reached to his fifty off 30 balls in the 12th over, with a four off Mustafizur but he was run out the next over with bowler Riyan Parag’s throw crashing onto the stumps.

    Delhi were 88 for 5 then.

    After Pant’s exit, Tom Curran gave some respectability to the DC innings with a 16-ball 21.

  • Rajasthan Royals win toss, opt to bowl agains Delhi Capitals

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson won the toss and opted to bowl in their IPL match against Delhi Capitals here on Thursday.

    Both sides made two changes from their previous match playing eleven.

    For RR, David Miller replaced Ben Stokes while Jaydev Unadkat came in for Shreyas Gopal.

    For DC, Kagiso Rabada came in for Shimron Hetmyer while Lalit Yadav replaced Amit Mishra for his debut match.

    The Teams: Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (c/w), Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Lalit Yadav, Kagiso Rabada, Tom Curran, Avesh Khan.

    Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c/w), Manan Vohra, David Miller, Jos Buttler, Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Chetan Sakariya, Jaydev Unadkat, Mustafizur Rahman.

  • Delhi Capitals’ R Ashwin one scalp away from 250 T20 wickets

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Seasoned spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be looking to add another feather to his illustrious cap when he takes the field against Rajasthan Royals on Thursday.

    The off-spinner is one wicket away from completing 250 scalps in T20 cricket. The 34-year-old has 139 wickets to his name in the ongoing IPL career while he bagged 52 wickets for India in 46 T20Is. The rest of his wickets came in the domestic circuit.

    He is the sixth-highest wicket-taker in the IPL. Veteran pacer Lasith Malinga is leading the chart with 170 scalps followed by Amit Mishra (160), Piyush Chawla (156), Dwayne Bravo (154) and Harbhajan Singh (150).

    Apart from Malinga, all the top five wicket-takers are playing in the IPL. Malinga announced his retirement ahead of the start of the 14th edition of the tournament while in the last season he made himself unavailable due to personal reasons.

    Coming back to DC’s campaign, the team is set to take on Rajasthan Royals on Thursday night and Delhi has not lost its last five games against the Royals. The win in the first game against CSK will act as a confidence booster for the team.

    In his first match as in-charge of Delhi Capitals, Rishabh Pant saw a winning performance as his side defeated MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets at the Wankhede Stadium.

    Delhi Capitals chased down the target of 188 as Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan set the stage on fire with their stunning opening partnership against CSK. 

  • Delhi Capitals pacer Anrich Nortje tests positive for COVID-19

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: In what comes as a huge blow for Delhi Capitals, pacer Anrich Nortje has tested positive for COVID-19.

    Speaking to ANI, sources in the know of developments said that the pacer tested positive while undergoing quarantine. “He came in with a negative report, but has unfortunately tested positive now while undergoing quarantine,” the source said.

    The BCCI SOP says a player/support staff, who tests positive for COVID-19, must isolate in the designated area outside the bio-secure environment for a minimum of 10 days from the first day of symptoms or the date of collection of the sample which resulted in a positive RT-PCR report, whichever is earlier.

    Nortje was last seen in the ODI series against Pakistan. The pacer played the first two ODIs against the Babar Azam-led side and then he made his way to India to take part in the IPL.

    After landing in Mumbai, Nortje was undergoing seven days of mandatory quarantine. Before the start of the IPL 2021, Delhi Capitals received a big blow as spinner Axar Patel tested positive for Covid-19.

    Also, regular skipper Shreyas Iyer was ruled out with a shoulder injury and Rishabh Pant was given the charge of Delhi Capitals.

    In his first match as in-charge of Delhi Capitals, Pant saw a winning performance as his side defeated MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets here at the Wankhede Stadium.

    Delhi Capitals chased down a target of 188 as Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan set the stage on fire with their stunning opening partnership against CSK.

    Delhi Capitals will next take on Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.

  • Rishabh Pant is like Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson, brilliant bloke to have in your team: Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting

    Rishabh Pant was given the charge of Delhi Capitals as regular skipper Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of IPL 2021 due to a shoulder injury.

  • Beleaguered Rajasthan Royals look to skipper Samson for inspiration against confident Delhi Capitals

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Coming off a heart-breaking loss and hit by star all-rounder Ben Stokes’ injury-forced ouster, a beleaguered Rajasthan Royals would hope for another inspirational knock from new skipper Sanju Samson when it faces a confident Delhi Capitals in an IPL match here on Wednesday.

    While DC made a superb start under new captain Rishabh Pant, clinching a seven-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in their opening contest, RR suffered a four-run defeat against Punjab Kings in a high-scoring match on Monday night.

    Chasing a mammoth 222 for win, Samson (119 off 63 balls) played a blinder of an innings in his debut as captain but couldn’t get his side over the line as he was dismissed in the final ball of the innings while going for a maximum with RR needing five runs off the last delivery.

    The loss completely shattered Samson, who single-handedly kept RR in the contest, playing some delightful strokes during his blistering knock, which included 12 boundaries and seven sixes.

    As if the loss was not enough, RR were dealt a severe blow on Tuesday when Stokes was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament with a broken finger.

    He sustained that injury during the agonising defeat.

    In his absence, the pressure would be on the likes of Jos Buttler, Shivam Dube and Riyan Parag to deliver the goods and provide ample support to their young skipper, who has been sensational in the first match.

    The likes of Manan Vohra (12), Buttler (25) Dube (23), Parag (25) all got starts but failed to lend the much-needed support to Samson.

    The major worry for RR team management would be the performance of its bowling unit.

    RR bowling unit looked rusty and completely out of sorts in their opener.

    Barring young Chetan Sakariya (3/31), who had a fantastic debut, all other RR bowlers went for runs and looked completely clueless against opposition batsmen.

    Mustafizur Rahman, Chris Morris, Stokes, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia — all went for big runs and need to pull up their socks quickly.

    Last edition’s runner-up side DC, on the other hand, had a perfect start to their campaign as they defeated three-time champions CSK with consummate ease.

    Opting to field, DC had allowed CSK to pile up a competitive 188 for 7 but Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw made a short walk of the target with a 138-run opening partnership, that laid the foundation for the win.

    Both Dhawan (85 off 54) and Shaw (72 off 38) played their strokes from the word go and looked in complete control during their knocks.

    Pant (15 not out) and Marcus Stonis (14) did the rest as DC comfortably reached home with eight balls to spare.

    On the bowling front, Chris Woakes (2/18) and Avesh Khan (2/23) had a good outing in the first game and would look to carry on their form but the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Tom Curran, Amit Mishra and Stoinis had a forgettable outing and would be desperate to make amends on Thursday.

    The contest will also witness test of wits of two new captains in Pant and Samson.

    Teams (From): Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c & wk), Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Manan Vohra, Anuj Rawat, Riyan Parag, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, KC Cariappa, Liam Livingstone, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh.

    Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Lukman Meriwala, M Siddarth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings.

    Match starts at 7:30 PM.

  • Rishabh Pant has grown in last four months, he will do a good job as Delhi Capitals captain: Brian Lara

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Former West Indies skipper Brian Lara reckons wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has improved a lot in the last four months and as a result, he will do a good job as the skipper of Delhi Capitals.

    Pant was given the charge of Delhi Capitals as regular skipper Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of IPL 2021 due to a shoulder injury.

    “Around 6 months of international cricket for him, one against Australia and here against England. Now he is responsible for the captaincy because of injury. Plus, he doesn’t have the services of Nortje, Rabada, and Axar Patel. So, they are asking a lot of him. I think he has got a team that will support him which is most important. He has grown in the last 4 months and I think he will do a good job,” said Lara on Star Sports’ show ‘Select Dugout’.

    Pant has been in remarkable form off late as he gave match-winning performances in the series against Australia and England. The left-handed batsman also scored a stunning ton against England in the fourth Test against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

    In his first match as in-charge of Delhi Capitals, Pant saw a winning performance as his side defeated MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets here at the Wankhede Stadium.

    Delhi Capitals chased down a target of 188 as Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan set the stage on fire with their stunning opening partnership.

    Delhi Capitals will next take on Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.