Delhi Daredevils have been going through a very rough time in this IPL season. Losses, Gambhir stepping down as captain and losing close matches at the start of the season have been the problems which have been very visible.
Approaching the end of the season, fielding lapses have been the latest reason which is making the team worry going ahead in the tournament.
In their disappointing loss against SRH in Hyderabad there were crucial catches put down which conjugated to their loss. Two of the key contributors in that chase were Alex Hales (45 off 31) and Yusuf Pathan (27 not out off 12), and both were let off early in their innings. Hales had made only nine when Glenn Maxwell put down an easy chance at deep mid-wicket, while Yusuf had yet to open his account when Vijay Shankar spilled a catch.
“Very disappointing to be honest,” said Shreyas Iyer, the Delhi captain, after the defeat. At a certain point in the game we were on top, but suddenly in between the momentum totally changed. I think on this ground it was a really good total to get on the board. Even though we couldn’t capitalise on the good start we got… 10 runs extra would have been really important if we could have got them.
“See catches win matches, that’s what they say. We’ve been practicing really hard but when the nerves are really high, it happens. It’s part of the game but you can’t complain right now. You’ve just got to keep getting better every match you play.”
Meanwhile, DD coach Praveen Amre is extremely happy with Prithvi Shaw's form for DD this season. “He is a special talent,” said Amre of Shaw, praising the opener for the way he had handled the tournament’s best bowling attack. “I’ve known him in Mumbai since he was 14 years old. From school days also he was making headlines, and then coming into first-class cricket he made a hundred on debut for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. To me, it was important to see him get four-five hundreds in first-class cricket. That shows maturity. Yes this is a different platform, but when he got that opportunity, he grabbed it. He has shown the spark that he can perform at this level also.”
Delhi currently finds themselves languishing in the seventh position with six points from 10 games alongside RCB and RR.
