Pant Returns but Delhi Capitals continue to struggle

Rishabh Pant skipper of Delhi Capitals Delhi Capitals returned to action after 15 months of break from all kinds of cricket. Last year Pant met with a horrible car accident which kept him away from cricket. In his absence, Delhi Capitals side was led by the Aussie David Warner but could not leave much impact and DC ended up in 9th position in the league.

Courtesy – The Financial Express

Before the start of this season, there were many speculations of Pant’s return. Rishabh Pant did return to the squad as captain but nothing much changed for DC as Punjab Kings outplayed them at their home.

After winning the toss Punjab opted to bowl first. DC came out with a different strategy by using all 4 of their overseas players in the top 6 batters which left their bowling order with only Indian bowlers which included Khaleel, Ishant, Axar, and Kuldeep which did not look strong on the sheets. With Axar and Kuldeep the spin department looked settled but the pace battery looked weak with Ishant who has not left much impact with the white ball in his career and Khaleel who is also not around the main Indian team.

Batting first DC scored 174 runs thanks to a cameo from Porel who came in as an impact player in the 18th over and scored 32 of 10 balls. Pant on his return scored 18 of 13 balls. All the top 4 batters got good starts but none of them were able to convert the starts. Chasing 175 Punjab looked comfortable throughout the Innings and chased the total with 4 wickets in hand. Sam Curran played a top knock of 63 runs which also made him the Player of the Match apart from Curran Livingstone scored a quick 38* of 21 balls and finished the match for PBKS. Khaleel went for 43 runs in his 4 overs whereas Ishant bowled only 2 overs and got Injured during fielding and did not take part in the game further. Mitch Marsh also got hit for 52 runs in his quota of 4 overs. The pace bowlers in total gave away 130 runs in 11.2 overs which caused the match for Delhi

After this defeat, DC has yet again got a poor start to the season. DC has bowlers like Jhye Richardson and Nortje who are known for their fast-bowling skills and are also playing in various leagues around the world. Leaving out them and going only with foreign batters has raised a question mark on their approach. DC also left out opener Prithvi Shaw who has been a part of the team for the past few years. They also have the option of Jake Fraser – McGurk who they have recently traded in for Lungisani Ngidi.

Going ahead DC will need to address their combinations to bring the best in the fast-moving league